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COMPENDIOUS    HISTORY 


AMERICAN  METHODISM. 


ABRIDGED   FROM  THE   AUTHOR'S    "HISTORY   OF   THE   METHODIST 
EPISCOPAL   CHURCH." 


By   ABEL  STEVENS,  LL.D. 


JIEW    yORK: 
PUBLISHED    BY   CARLTON"    &    PORTER, 


200    MULBERRY-STREET. 
1867. 


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Entered  ac^rdtn^  t£  Act  of  Congress,  hi  &e  yeV  1867,  by 

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in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


PUBLISHERS'   NOTICE 


The  Book  Concern  has  for  some  years  been  spending  liberally  to 
provide  the  Church  with  a  Standard  History  of  Methodism.  It 
issued  first  a  History  of  General  Methodism  in  three  volumes, 
giving  an  account  of  the  denomination  in  all  parts  of  the  world, 
centralizing  in  the  Wesleyan,  or  parent  body,  a  work  which  has 
been  reproduced  by  four  or  five  competing  publishers  in  England ; 
second,  a  particular  History  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  four  volumes — the  fourth  volume  just  out.  These  works  have 
received  the  strongest  indorsements  not  only  by  Methodists,  but 
other  authorities  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  They  meet  a 
great  want  of  the  Church,  and  a  demand  of  the  general  religious 
public.  The  author  employed  by  the  Concern  to  prepare  them — 
Dr.  Abel  Stevens — has  devoted  his  utmost  power  to  them,  and 
has,  by  thorough  research,  added  more  than  one  third  to  the  data 
of  our  history,  as  given  by  preceding  writers.  These  works  are 
now  a  staple  part  of  the  property  of  the  Church's  own  Publish- 
ing House :  they  have  cost  it  much,  and  will  yield  much  to  its 
interest  if  properly  patronized. 

There  are  many  of  our  people,  however,  who  cannot  spare  the 
means  for  works  as  large  as  these.  It  has  been  our  design  from 
the  beginning,  therefore,  to  present  them  in  cheaper  form,  that  the 
whole  Church  may  be  supplied  with  them.  When  propositions 
were  made  by  other  parties  to  our  author  (with  the  most  liberal 
offers  of  compensation)  to  prepare  a  smaller  work  for  more  popular 
circulation,  he  promptly  declined  them  on  the  ground  that  it  would 
be  an  indirect  interference  with  the  Book  Concern's  right  of  prop- 
erty in  the  work,  and  contrary  to  the  understood  rules  of  the 
trade  in  such  cases,  especially  as  the  Concern  designed  in  due 
time  to  issue  an  abridgment.  That  abridgment  is  presented  in 
the  present  volume,  by  the  author,  with  additions,  bringing  the 
narrative  down  to  the  Centenary  of  the  Church,  with  full  accounts 

K/5107473 


4  PUBLISHERS'    NOTICE. 

of  the  results  of  the  hundred  years  of  its  history,  and  life-like 
sketches  of  its  representative  men. 

We  feel  that  we  can  confidently  call  upon  the  Church  to  pro- 
tect and  promote  the  interests  of  its  Book  Concern  by  sustaining 
us  in  this  undertaking.  The  larger  work,  in  four  volumes,  should 
be  obtained  by  all  who  can  afford  its  price ;  but  to  the  many  who 
cannot,  this  re-edited  form  of  it  should  be  everywhere  presented. 
The  History  of  the  Church  ought  to  be  known  by  all  its  people ; 
there  could  be  no  better  exposition  or  defense  of  Methodism. 
This  volume  is  a  connected  History  of  the  Church.  Though 
much  incident  and  many  characters  of  the  larger  work  are  nec- 
essarily omitted,  yet  the  narrative  is  unbroken,  and  its  style  and 
most  interesting  data  are  retained.  The  volumes  of  which  it  is 
a  compend  have  received  extraordinary  commendations  from  the 
press  generally.     We  append  a  few  of  these  testimonials. 

Carlton  &  Porter. 

Poe  &  Hitchcock. 

October,  186|. 


OPINIONS    OF    THE   PRESS, 


METHODIST. 


We  venture  nothing  in  expressing  our  judgment  that  for  profound  interest,  thrill- 
ing portraiture,  charming  style,  beautiful  diction,  and  soul-stirring  narrative,  it  is 
incomparable.  We  are  not  alone  in  this  opinion :  in  the  judgment  of  the  best  minds 
who  have  read  it,  it  is  all  we  have  stated  it  to  be.— {New  York)  Christian  Advocate. 

After  a  careful  reading,  we  pronounce  the  work  a  complete  success.  There  is 
the  same  happy  facility  for  grouping  events  and  characters,  the  same  beauty  of 
description,  the  same  masterly  power  in  the  delineation  of  character,  which  are 
found  in  his  former  work. — {Boston)  Ziorts  Herald. 

They  have  all  the  charm  of  romance.  We  say  to  all,  Read  these  intensely  inter- 
esting volumes. —  {Cincinnati)  Christian  Advocate. 

Dr.  Stevens  is  the  ecclesiastical  Macaulay,  and  his  works  are  as  equally  interest- 
ing and  ever  enchanting. — ( Chicago)  Christian  Advocate 

The  senior  bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (Morris)  writes  of  the 
earlier  portion  of  the  work  in  the  {New  York)  Christian  Advocate :  "  It  feeds  the 
Christian's  mind  and  warms  his  heart.  I  sincerely  desire  and  pray  that  the 
author  may  live  to  complete  the  work,  and  bring  it  down  to  at  least  the  first 
Centenary  of  American  Methodism.  Its  value  would  be  inestimable,  not  only  to 
this  generation,  but  also  to  those  coming  after  us." 


OPINIONS    OF    THE    PRESS.  5 

What  Macaulay  has  done  for  England,  Stevens  has  done  for  Methodism. —  Will- 
iam M}  Arthur,  Esq.,  of  London. 

Entertaining  and  even  fascinating  by  a  style  of  thought  and  a  variety  of  incident 
that  never  cease  to  please.  The  author  has  woven  a  narrative  so  thrilling  and 
substantial  that  it  deserves  a  place  in  every  American  family. — (Pittsburgh)  Chris- 
tian Advocate. 

If  there  is  another  ecclesiastical  historian  who  has  given  to  the  Church  and  the 
world  so  piquant,  so  readable,  so  eloquent  a  book  as  this,  we  have  not  read  it. — 
(New  York)  Methodist. 

Dr.  Stevens  has  acquired  just  fame  on  this  side  the  Atlantic,  as  well  as  in  his 
own  country,  by  his  General  History  of  Methodism.  In  addition  to  the  copies  of 
that  work  imported  from  America,  four  or  five  editions  have  been  issued  in  En- 
gland, and  are  on  sale  among  us  in  various  sizes.  The  volumes  before  us  will  not 
detract  from  the  author's  well-earned  reputation.  They  contain  the  fruit  of  great 
research,  presented  in  a  very  lively  style,  and  are  characterized  by  a  truly  Chris- 
tian spirit. — (London)  Watchman. 

PKOTESTANT  EPISCOPAL. 

"We  take  up  these  new  volumes  wishing  for  the  leeway  of  a  Quarterly  in  which  to 
find  room  for  the  reflections  that  naturally  arise  at  their  very  sight.  Their  perusal 
would  flood  certain  minds  with  light,  and  remove  many  a  root  of  bitterness. — Dr. 
Tyxg,  in  (New  York)  Christian  Times. 

Stevens  is  an  excellent  writer ;  he  thinks  clearly  and  writes  strongly ;  he  makes 
all  of  Methodism  that  can  be  made  of  it,  and  the  field  is  fruitful.  His  delineations 
are  admirable. — Am.  Quart.  Church  Review. 

CONGREGATIONAL  AND  LUTHERAN. 

The  Congregational  Quarterly  (Boston)  speaks  of  "  Stevens's  fascinating  History 
of  Methodism." 

"  The  researches  of  Dr.  Stevens  are  exceedingly  valuable,  not  only  to  the  mem- 
bers of  his  own  denomination,  but  to  all  who  are  interested  in  ecclesiastical  history  ; 
and  the  author  deserves  the  thanks  of  all  the  Churches  in  furnishing  the  public  with 
so  interesting  and  important  a  contribution. — (Getty sburgh)  Evangelical  Quarterly 
Review. 

PRESBYTERIAN. 

The  author  has  bestowed  years  of  patient  thought  and  reading  in  the  preparation 
of  this  work,  and  it  is  worthy  of  his  previous  reputation,  which  will  hereafter  be 
identified  with  these  volumes.  He  has  a  mind  that  inclines  him  to  look  into  the 
philosophy  of  things,  and  the  growth  of  Methodism  in  the  United  States  is  a  theme 
for  a  philosopher  to  study.  No  greater  moral  wonder  has  marked  the  present 
century.  It  is  developed  in  these  volumes.  They  are  to  be  read  by  the 
many,  to  be  studied  by  the  few.  The  work  will  be  studied  by  ministers  and 
others  who  are  not  of  his  denomination. — New  York  Observer. 

We  take  leave  of  the  book,  congratulating  our  Methodist  friends  that  their  his- 
tory has  been  so  carefully  and  attractively  written.  It  has  more  than  denomina- 
tional interest— New  York  Evangelist 


6  OPINIONS    OF    THE    PRESS. 

The  American  Presbyterian  and  Theological  Review  speaks  of  it  as  "a  well- 
compacted  and  digested  history.  American  Methodism  is  honored  in  and  by  its 
historian." 

The  Princeton  Review  says:  "The  author's  elaborate  History  of  Methodism  has 
established  his  reputation  as  a  faithful  and  able  historian.  His  writings  have 
taken  the  place  of  authorities,  and  have  abiding  importance  for  Christians  of  all 
denominations." 

SECULAR  AND   LITERARY. 

The  North  American  Quarterly  gives  some  nine  or  ten  pages  to  the  work,  and 
speaks  of  it  as  "deserving  high  praise  an  important  contribution  to  the  ecclesias- 
tical history  of  the  United  States." 

The  Atlantic  gives  it  some  four  closely-printed  columns,  and  says:  "Dr.  Stevens 
has  displayed  in  the  present  volumes  the  same  marked  abilities  which  made  his 
previous  work  so  popular.  The  skill  displayed  in  their  arrangement  and  treat- 
ment, so  as  to  make  the  narrative  an  absorbingly  attractive  one,  is  eminently  praise- 
worthy. As  a  history,  the  work  is  not  only  creditable  in  a  denominational  and 
ecclesiastical  point  of  view,  but  it  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  our  national  litera- 
ture. Any  ordinary  ability  would  have  made  a  readable  story  out  of  such  mate- 
rials ;  but  to  make  a  history  worthy  of  the  name  required  the  hand  of  a  master." 

The  New  York  Evening  Post  says:  "The  history  of  a  great  religious  movement 
like  this  must  be  one  of  vast  interest  to  all  thinkers  and  statesmen.  On  the  other 
hand,  its  romantic  elements  are  such  as  to  furnish  material  for  popular  interest  to 
as  great  a  degree  as  any  legendary  histories.  We  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  this 
grand  subject  has  found  its  fitting  master  in  Dr.  Stevens.  No  public  man  can 
afford  to  be  ignorant  of  it ;  and  it  is  also  a  book  which  unlettered  readers  will 
find  more  attractive  than  an  ordinary  novel.  Dr.  Stevens  is  carefully  accurate 
in  his  researches.  His  book  is,  in  fact,  a  gallery  of  pictures,  in  the  same  sense,  at 
least,  in  which  we  may  say  the  same  thing  of  Milman  or  Macaulay.  But  it  is  not 
merely  a  series  of  illustrations,  as,  to  a  large  extent,  the  histories  of  Milman  and 
Macaulay  are.  The  due  proportions  of  men  and  facts  are  never  lost  sight  of  in  Dr. 
Stevens's  book ;  the  whole  field  is  in  his  eye  as  he  describes  any  particular  portion 
of  it.  He  does  not  simply  describe  the  facts  as  they  are,  but  shows  us  why  they 
are.  His  narrative  of  the  origin  of  the  Methodistic  movement  in  the  last  century 
is  indeed  a  picture  of  the  age  ;  yet  he  not  only  paints  it,  but  also  detects  its  spirit 
and  traces  it  to  its  springs." 

It  is  well  done.  It  will  be  appreciated  both  in  and  out  of  his  Church. — (New 
York)  Journal  of  Commerce. 

The  narrative  is  marked  by  clearness  and  vivacity  of  statement,  abounding  in 
graphic  biographical  sketches,  many  of  which  exhibit  not  a  little  skill  in  that 
branch  of  composition. — New  York  Tribune. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  in  comprehensiveness  of  detail,  in  distinctive 
portraiture  of  character,  in  broad,  ingenuous  philosophy  of  facts,  in  brilliance, 
purity,  and  vigor  of  style,  it  is  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  productions  of  the 
best  English  or  American  historians.  "Truth,  stranger  than  fiction,"  invests  the 
work  with  romantic  attraction. — (Boston)  Evening  Transcript. 

This  work  will  have  readers  among  all  denominations. — (New  York)  National 

Review. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

METHODISM — ITS   SPECIAL   ADAPTATION  TO  THE  NEW  WORLD. 

John  Wesley  and  James  Watt  — Effect  of  the  Steam-Engine  on  America 
—  Development  of  the  Country  —  The  Revolution  —  Great  Growth  of  Popula- 
tion—Methodism provides  for  it  — How  — What  is  Methodism ?— The  "Holy 
Club"—  Whitefield—  John  and  Charles  Wesley  — Peter  Boehler  —  Practical 
System  of  Methodism  —  Its  Trials  and  Triumphs  in  England  —  Whitefield  in 
America Page  IT 

CHAPTER  n. 

FOUNDERS   OP  THE  METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 

The  Irish  Palatines  —  Philip  Embury  —  Barbara  Heck  —  Methodism  in  New 
York  City  — Captain  Webb  —  John-street  Church  —  Outspread  of  Methodism  — 
Emigration  of  Embury  to  the  North 33 

CHAPTER  III. 

RISE   OP  METHODISM  IN  MARYLAND. 

Robert  Strawbridge  —  The  "  Log  Meeting-House  "  —  Richard  Owen  —  He  buries 
Strawbridge  —  Outspread  of  the  Church 42 

CHAPTER  IV. 

EARLY   LAY    EVANGELISTS. 

Call  for  Preachers  —  Robert  Williams  responds  —  Ashton  of  Ashgrove— 
Williams  extends  Methodism  Southward  —  Jarratt,  the  Churchman  —  John  King 
arrives  —  His  Services 46 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

wesley's  first  missionaries  to  America. 

Demand  for  Preachers  from  England  —  Boardman  and  Pilmoor  sent  by  "Wesley  — 
Their  Labors  —  Whitefield's  last  Visit  —  Last  Discourse  —  His  Death  —  Extension 
ol  Methodism  —  Its  Curious  Introduction  into  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y Page  52 

CHAPTER  VI. 

WESLEY'S  MISSIONARIES  :  CONTINUED. 

Sketch  of  Francis  Asbury  —  Richard  Wright  —  Their  American  Travels  and 
Labors  — First  Quarterly  Conference  —  Methodism  in  Baltimore  —  Captain  Webb 
recruiting  for  America  in  England  — Thomas  Rankin  and  George  Shadford  join 
him  —  Their  Characters  —  Their  American  Labors 59 

CHAPTER  VH. 

THE  FIRST  CONFERENCE — RETURN  OF  ENGLISH  PREACHERS. 

First  Conference  —  First  Returns  of  Members — Sacramental  Controversy  — 
The  English  Preachers  Return  Home  — Their  Success  —  Death  of  Captain 
Webb 73 

CHAPTER  VHT. 

NATIVE   EVANGELISTS. 

William  Watters,  First  Native  Itinerant  —  His  Labors — Jarratt  co-operates 
with  the  Methodists  —  Great  Revivals  —  Rapid  Advance  of  the  Church  —  Philip 
Gatch,  Second  Native  Itinerant — His  Labors  —  Benjamin  Abbott — His  Extraor- 
dinary Character  and  Success  —  Daniel  Ruff 78 

CHAPTER  IX. 

PRINCIPAL  EVANGELISTS:   1773-1784. 

Review  of  the  Labors  of  Rankin,  Shadford,  and  Asbury — Otterbein  and  Ger- 
man Methodists  —  Their  Present  Condition  —  Wright  and  Williams  in  Virginia  — 
Freeborn  Garrettson  —  Second  Conference  —  Results  —  Asbury  Abroad  —  Conver- 
sion of  Henry  Dorsey  Gough  —  Perry  Hall  —  Dromgoole  and  other  new  Preachers 
—  Gatch's  "  Fiery  Trials  "  —  Marvelous  Scenes  in  the  Miuistry  of  Abbott  —  Watters 
and  Lee  —  The  Coming  War 90 


CONTENTS.  9 

CHAPTER  X. 

TRIALS  AND  PROGRESS  DURING  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR  '.  1775-1784. 

Causes  of  the  Revolution  —  Effect  on  the  Established  Church  —  Great  Sufferings 
of  the  Methodists  —  Effect  of  the  Revolution  on  Methodism  —  Methodism  and  the 
Revolution  providentially  coincident Page  109 

CHAPTER  XI. 

LABORS  AND  TRIALS  DURING  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR. 

Asbury  Itinerating  —  He  buries  Robert  Williams  —  Great  Revivals  in  the 
South  —  Asbury  in  Retirement  at  Judge  White's  —  Abroad  again  —  Arrival  of 
Dr.  Coke  —  Scene  at  Barrett's  Chapel  —  Watters's  Labors  —  Garrettson  begins  — 
Scenes  in  Early  Ministry  — Gatch's  Trials  —  Abbott's  extraordinary  Labors  — 
Sterling  and  Boehm  —  Abbott's  Thundergust  Sermon  — Jesse  Lee's  Early  Life 
and  Labors— Great  Progress  during  the  War  — Erection  of  Chapels  —  Singular 
Event  at  Salem,  N.  J.  —  "  Old  John-street  Chapel  "  —  A  Scene  there  —  Geograph- 
ical Distribution  of  the  Church 115 

CHAPTER  XH. 

CONFERENCES  AND  PROGRESS,  FROM  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  REVOLU- 
TIONARY WAR,  TO  THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH. 

Early  Quarterly  and  Annual  Conferences  —  Garrettson  at  the  Session  of  1776  — 
Conference  Proceedings  —  Francis  Poythress's  Early  Life  —  The  Sacramental  Con- 
troversy—  Pedicord's  Persecution  and  Success  —  Thomas  Ware  —  John  Tunnell 

—  Other  distinguished  Itinerants  —  The  Sacramental  Controversy  resumed,  and 
finally  settled  —  Great  Revivals  —  Methodism  Crosses  the  Alleghanies  —  Mount- 
aineer Local  Preachers  —  Methodism  in  the  Interior  of  Pennsylvania  —  Services 
of  the  Local  Ministry 15fr 

CHAPTER  XHI. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

Sketch  of  Bishop  Coke  — Of  Whatcoat  —  Condition 'of  the  Church  —  Wesley 
ordains  Coke,  Yusey.  and  Whatcoat  for  America  —  Their  Arrival  —  Barrett's 
Chapel  —  Perry  Hall  —  The  "  Christmas  Conference  "  —  Wesley's  Letter  —  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Conference  —  Theological  and  Practical  System  of  the  New  Church 

—  Its  new  Career 1^ 


10  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XTV. 


PROGRESS  PROM  THE  ORGANIZATION  OP  THE  CHURCH  TO  THE  FIRST 
REGULAR  GENERAL  CONFERENCE  :    1785-1792. 

Condition  of  the  Church  — Coke  and  Asbury  Itinerating  —  Cokesbury  College 
—  First  Ordination  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  —  Whatcoat's  Travels  — Ab- 
bott's continued  and  Marvelous  Success  —  Garrettson's  Labors  —  He  pioneers  Meth- 
odism up  the  Hudson  — It  penetrates  the  Wyoming  and  Tioga  Mountains  — 
AnningOwen Page  20l 


CHAPTER  XV. 

INTRODUCTION  OF  METHODISM  INTO  THE  WEST. 

First  Labors  in  the  West— The  Redstone  Country  —  The  Holston  Region  — 
General  Russell's  Conversion  —  Methodism  enters  Kentucky  — Its  Western  Out- 
spread —  Asbury's  Mountain  Home #  219 

CHAPTER  XVT. 

INTRODUCTION  INTO  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  BRITISH  PROVINCES. 

Garrettson's  Provincial  Labors  and  Sufferings  —  Succeeding  Preachers  —  Meth- 
odism reaches  Upper  Canada  —  Barbara  Heck  —  A  Methodist  Martyr  —  Losee, 
the  first  Canadian  Itinerant —  Success 232 


CHAPTER  XVH. 

INTRODUCTION   OF  METHODISM  INTO  NEW  ENGLAND. 

Lee  on  Boston  Common^*—  Itinerating  in  the  East  —  His  First  Society  —  His 
Trials  —  Meets  Garrettson  —  Success  at  Lynn,  Mass.  —  Asbury  in  the  East  —  First 
New  England  Conference  —  Description  of  it  —  Outspread  of  the  Church 239 


CHAPTER  XVm. 

SUMMARY  REVIEW:   1785-1792. 

Annual  Conferences  —  Numerical  Progress  —  The  Native  Ministry  —  Its  ex- 
traordinary Character  —  Its  Sufferings  —  Its  excessive  Mortality  —  Disciplinary 
Training. . . ; 263 


CONTENTS.  11 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


FIRST  REGULAR,  OR    SECOND  GENERAL   CONFERENCE — METHODISM  IN  THE 
SOUTH:  1792-1796. 

First  Regular  Session  —  O'Kelly's  attempted  Change  of  the  Discipline  —  His 
Schism  —  Asbury  Itinerating  in  the  South  —  Hammett's  Schism  — Death  of 
General  Russell  —  Of  Judge  White  —  Abbott's  remaining  Life,  and  Death  —  What- 
coat  — Henry  Smith  and  Francis  M'Cormick  — William  M'Kendree  —  Enoch 
George  —  Coleman  Carlisle  —  Simon  Carlisle's  Providential  Deliverance  from  a 
charge  of  Crime Page  269 


CHAPTER  XX. 

METHODISM  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AND  NORTHERN  STATES :   1792-1796. 

Asbury  Itinerating  —  Garrettson's  "Traveler's  Rest"  — Sketch  of  George 
Pickering  —  Of  Ezekiel  Cooper  —  Of  John  M'Closkey  —  Of  Lawrence  M' Combs  — 
Of  Thomas  Morrell  —  Thomas  Ware  in  the  North  —  Colbert  in  the  Wilderness  — 
His  Hardships— Valentine  Cook's  Adventures  —  Success  of  the  Church  —  Rich- 
ard Jacobs  perishes  in  the  Woods  —  Methodism  in  Canada  — The  Provincial 
Itinerants  —  The  Emburys  and  Hecks  —  Hezekiah  C.  Wooster's  remarkable 
Character  and  Power —  Condition  of  the  Northern  Church 291 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

METHODISM  IN  THE  EASTERN  STATES  I   1792-1796. 

Lee  Itinerating  —  Asbury — Benjamin  Bemis  —  Conferences  in  the  East  — 
Sketch  of  Daniel  Ostrander  —  Affecting  Death  of  Zadok  Priest  —  Lee  in  Maine  — 
Asbury  again  in  New  England  —  The  Wilbraham  Conference  —  Lee's  Eloquence  — 
His  Travels —  Continued  Success  —  First  Chapel  in  Boston —  Lorenzo  Dow. . .  309 

CHAPTER  XXn. 

METHODISM  IN  THE  WEST  :   1792-1796. 

Preachers  beyond  the  Mountains  —  John  Cooper  —  Henry  Willis  —  Other  Itiner- 
ants —  The  Holston  Country  —  Great  Trials  of  the  Itinerants  —  Barnabas  M'Henry 
—  William  Burke's  Sufferings  and  Labors  —  Sketch  of  Kobler  —  Judge  Scott  and 
Governor  Tiffin  —  M'Cormick  in  the  West  — He  founds  Methodism  in  Ohio  — 
Henry  Smith  in  the  West  —  Valentine  Cook  there  — Itinerant  Recruits  —  Out- 
spread of  Methodism 326 


12  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXm. 

GENERAL  CONFERENCE  OF  1796 — METHODISM  IN  THE  SOUTH  :  1796-1804. 

The  Third  General  Conference  —  Proceedings  —  Statistical  View  of  the  Church 

—  Asbury  in  the  South  —  Lee  there  —  His  "Wit  —  Great  Revivals  —  The  Southern 
Ministry  —  Labors  of  Watters  -r-  Of  Enoch  George  —  Of  M'Kendree  —  Tobias 
Gibson —  Numerical  Strength  of  Southern  Methodism Page  339 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

MIDDLE  AND  NORTHERN  METHODISM  :   1796-1804. 

Continued  Revivals  —  Asbury  —  Ware  —  Sketches  of  Chandler,  Sharp,  and 
Henry  Smith  —  Henry  Boehm's  Early  Life  —  Singular  Origin  of  Annamessex  Circuit 

—  Boehm  and  Gruber  among  the  Dutch  of  Pennsylvania  —  Sketch  of  Gruber  — 
Peter  Vannest  and  Thomas  Burch  —  The  "  Albright  Methodists  "  —  Their  Present 
Condition  —  New  York  Conference  —  Billy  Hibbard's  Humor  and  Trials  —  Sketches 
of  Merwin  and  Hutchinson — Ebenezer  Washburne's  Conversion  —  Methodism  up 
the  Hudson  —  Colbert  among  the  interior  Mountains  and  Lakes  —  Father  Bid- 
lack's  Adventures  —  Other  Itinerants — Canadian  Methodism  —  Joseph  Sawyer 
and  his  Associates  —  Sketch  of  Nathan  Bangs  —  Success  of  the  Provincial  Church 

—  Death  of  Barbara  Heck  —  Results 348 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

METHODISM  IN  THE  EASTERN  STATES  :   1796-1804. 

Sketches  of  John  Brodhead  and  Timothy  Merntt  —  Lee  and  Asbury  in  New 
England  —  Conferences  —  The  first  in  Maine  —  Scenes  at  it  —  Sketch  of  Daniel 
Webb  and  Epaphras  Kibby —  General  M'Clellan  —  Scenes  at  Monmouth,  Hallowell, 
and  Augusta  —  Sketch  of  Joshua  Soule  —  Of  Elijah  Hedding  —  Methodism  in  New 
England  at  the  End  of  the  Last  Century  —  Lee  taking  leave  of  the  East  —  Account 
of  Thomas  Branch  —  His  Death  in  the  Wilderness  —  Martin  Ruter  —  Laban  Clark 

—  Persecutions  of  the  Itinerants  —  Results 370 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

METHODISM  IN  THE  WEST  :   1796-1804. 

Great  Evangelists  in  the  West  —  Quinn  —  Matthews  and  Chieuvrant —  Fleming  — 
Shinn  and  others  —  The  Erie  Country —  Robert  R.  Roberts's  early  Life  —  The  Itiner- 
ants among  the  Holston  Mountains  —  The  "  Old  Western  Conference  "  —  Benjamin 


/ 


CONTENTS.  13 

Lakin  —  Valentine  Cook's  farewell  Journey  and  Death  —  M'Kendree  goes  to  the 
West  —  His  great  Success  —  Origin  of  Camp-Meetings  —  Jacob  Young  —Gibson 
on  the  Lower  Mississippi  —  His  Sufferings  and  Death  —  His  Successors  —  Black- 
man  there  —  M'Cormick  and  Dimmitt  in  the  Northwestern  Territory  —  Kobler's 
arrival  there  —  Philip  Gatch  appears  there  — John  Sale— Collins  in  Cincinnati 
—  Outspread  of  Methodism  in  the  Northwest— A  sbury—  Great  Results.  .Page  394 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

GENERAL  CONFERENCES   OP  1800  AND  1804  :  REVIEW. 

Doings  of  the  Session  of  1800  —  Discussions  on  Slavery  —  Great  Revival  — 
Catharine  Ennals  —  Proceedings  of  the  Session  of  1804  —  Opinion  of  the  National 
Sovereignty  —  Slavery  again  —  Striking  Statistical  Exhibits  —  Geographical  Distri- 
bution of  Methodism  —  Ratio  of  its  Increase  compared  with  that  of  the  National 
Population 4l5 


CHAPTER  XXVm. 

METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH*.  1804-1820. 

Condition  of  Methodism  in  the  South  —  It  pushes  Westward  —  Lorenzo  Dow  in 
Alabama  —  Southwestern  Itinerants  —  Recruits,  Sufferings,  and  Progress  —  Ken- 
nedy—Russell's singular  History  —  Lovick  and  Reddick  Pierce  — A  Remarkable 
Camp-meeting  — Conversion  of  Richmond  Nolley  —  Dunwody  —  Alfred  Griffith 
—  "Black  Charles"  -  Sketch  of  John  Early  — Of  William  Capers— Singular  Story 
of  Henry  Evans,  the  African  Founder  of  the  Church  at  Fayetteville,  S.  0.  —  Sketch 
of  Beverlv  Waugh  — Of  John  Davis  — Great  Camp-meetings  —  Asbury  in  the 

426 

South 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

METHODISM  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AND  NORTHERN  STATES:  1804-1820. 

Condition  of  the  Church  —  Sketch  of  John  Emory  -  Gruber  Prosecuted  for  an 
Attack  on  Slavery  —  Marvin  Richardson  —  Nathan  and  Heman  Bangs  — Robert 
Seney  — African  Episcopal  Methodism  —  Present  Condition  of  its  two  Bodies  — 
Methodism  up  the  Hudson  — Among  the  interior  Mountains  and  Lakes  —  George 
Lane  — Glezen  Fillmore  —  Thomas  Smith's  Adventures  —  Mrs.  Judge  Dorsey  — 
Genesee  Conference  organized  —  The  Church  in  Canada  —  William  Chase  -  Effects 
of  the  War  of  1812  —  Robert  Hibbard  drowned  in  the  St.  Lawrence  —  Renewed 
Prosperity  —  Results 


14  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

METHODISM  IN  THE  EASTERN  STATES:   1804-1820. 

Itinerant  Recruits  —  Sketch  of  Wilbur  Fisk  —  Romantic  History  of  Edward  T. 
Taylor  —  Mariners'  Church  of  Boston  —  Hedding's  Itinerant  Sufferings  —  Other 
Evangelists  —  Lee  revisits  New  England  —  Scenes  on  his  Journey  — Rapid  Prog- 
ress of  the  Church Page  453 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

METHODISM  IN  THE  WEST  :  1804-1820. 

Geographical  Outlines  of  the  Field  —  Methodism  in  the  Redstone  Country  and 
Ohio  —  Shewel,  the  pioneer  Local  Preacher  —  Jacob  Young  —  James  B.  Finley's 
Character  and  Labors — William  Swayze — Charles  Elliott —  Quinn  in  Ohio —  Sketch 
of  Jane  Trimble  —  Great  Evangelists — Great  Results — Methodism  in  Indiana — In 
Michigan —  In  Illinois  —  In  Missouri —  Extraordinary  Career  of  Jesse  Walker  — 
His  Death  and  Character  —  Sketch  of  Samuel  Parker  —  Of  James  Axley  —  Of 
Peter  Cart wright  —  Extraordinary  Scene  in  his  Ministry — David  Young's  Services 

—  John  Collins — Judge  M'Lean — John  Strange  —  Russell  Bigelow's  Eloquence 

—  Sketch  of  Henry  B.  Bascom  —  Of  Thomas  A.  Morris  —  Of  John  P.  Durbin  — 
Methodism  in  the  Southwest  —  Axley  and  other  Evangelists  there  —  Great  Results 

—  William  Winans  —  Further  Career  of  Richmond  Nolley  —  He  perishes  in  the 
Woods  —  Organization  of  the  Mississippi  Conference  —  Remarkable  Origin  of 
Aboriginal  Missions  —  John  Stewart,  an  African,  begins  them  —  Their  Progress  — 
Indian  Preachers  —  Harriet  Stubbs — Triumphs  of  Western  Methodism 469 


CHAPTER  XXXn. 

GENERAL  CONFERENCES   OP  1808,  1812,  AND  1816 — SUMMARY  REVIEW- 
DEATHS  OP  WHATCOAT,   COKE,  LEE,  AND  ASBURY. 

Proceedings  of  the  Session  of  1808  — Plan  of  Delegation  adopted  —  First  Dele- 
gated Session,  1812  —  Slavery  —  Presiding  Elder  Question  —  Session  of  1815  — 
Canada  Question  —  Slavery  again  —  Great  Progress  of  the  Church  —  Compar- 
ative Statistics  —  Character  and  Death  of  Whatcoat  —  Of  Coke  —  Last  Views  of 
his  Career  —  His  Place  in  Ecclesiastical  History  —  Final  Views  of  Asbury  —  His 
last  Sermon  and  Death  —  His  Extraordinary  Achievements  and  Character  —  His 
Death  and  Burial  —  Jesse  Lee's  Death,  Character,  and  Historical  Rank 50? 


CONTENTS.  15 


CHAPTER  XXXTTT. 

PROGRESS  AND  TRIALS  FROM  THE  GENERAL  CONFERENCE  OF  1820  TO  THE 
CENTENARY  JUBILEE  1866. 

General  Conference  —  Bishops  —  Origin  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  — 
Its  president  Condition  —  Independence  of  Canadian  Methodism  —  Antislavery 
Controversy  —  Organization  of  the  "Wesleyan  Methodist  Connection  —  Its  Present 
State  —  The  "Great  Secession  "  —  Organization  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South  —  Its  last  reported  Statistics  —  Antislavery  Progress — The  "Great  Re- 
bellion" —  Progress  of  Methodism  by  Decades Page  519 


CHAPTER  XXXTV. 

AUXILIARY    PLANS  AND  INSTITUTIONS — LITERARY,  EDUCATIONAL, 
MISSIONARY,  ETC. 

Wesley  and  Cheap  Literature  —  Great  Variety  of  his  Publications  —  First  Amer- 
ican "Book  Agents" — Origin  and  Progress  of  the  "Book  Concern"  —  Periodical 
Literature  —  Destruction  of  the  "  Concern  "  by  fire  —  Its  Re-establishment  —  Scale 
of  its  Operations  —  Methodist  Preachers  and  Literature  —  Sunday-schools  and 
Methodism — The  Sunday-School  Union — Its  Early  Success — Its  Reorganization — 
Its  great  Results  —  Methodism  and  Education — Its  Early  Schools  —  Asbury  and 
Education  —  Renewed  interest  for  it  —  Rapid  Multiplication  of  Institutions  —  The- 
ological Education  —  Results  —  Early  Methodism  and  Missions  —  Nathan  Bangs 
labors  for  them  —  Organization  of  the  Missionary  Society  —  Its  first  Officers  and 
Managers  —  Indian  Missions  —  Foreign  Missions  begun — Extraordinary  Origin 
and  Success  of  German  Methodism  —  Great  Results  — Reacting  Influence 529 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

REPRESENTATIVE    MINISTERIAL    CHARACTERS  —  SUMMERFIELD  —  MAFFITT 
—  COOKMAN  —  OLLN. 

Original  Type  of  the  Itinerant  Ministry  —  New  Class  of  Preachers  —  Peculiar 
Ministerial  Advantage  of  Methodism  —  An  Estimate  of  John  Summerfield  —  His 
extraordinary  Eloquence  and  Character  —  His  Death  —  John  N.  Maffitt  —  Sketch 
of  George  G.  Cookman  —  Stephen  Olin — His  Moral,  Social,  and  Intellectual 
Character  —  His  great  Power  in  the  Pulpit  —  Curious  case  of  Failure  —  Its 
good  Results  —  His  Death  —  Comparative  estimate  of  these  Characters 552 


16  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

CENTENARY  JUBILEE  —  RESULTS  —  THEIR  CAUSES. 

General  Conference  of  1866  — The  "Centenary  Committee"  of  Laymen  and 
Preachers—  Centenary  Statistics  — Extraordinary  Results  of  the  Hundred  Years— 
The  "Problem"  of  this  Success  —  Theology  and  Practical  System  of  Methodism 
do  not  fully  Explain — What  is  its  Solution? — Primary  and  Proximate  Causes  of 
the  success  of  the  Denomination  —  Its  Historical  Standpoint  —  Its  Spiritual  Vitality 
— Moral  Power  of  the  Character  of  its  Leaders  —  Its  F  uture  —  Conclu  sion ..  Page  5  7  3 

APPENDIX. 

Was  the  Episcopal  Organization  of  American  Methodism  in  Accordance  with 
Wesley's  Design  —  Statistical  Tables 585 


1        5      -J    3 


HISTOET! 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH, 


CHAPTER  I. 

METHODISM  —  ITS  SPECIAL  ADAPTATIONS  TO  THE  NEW  WORLD. 

In  the  year  1757  John  Wesley,  traveling  and  preaching,  night 
and  day,  throughout  the  United  Kingdom,  arrived  in  Glasgow. 
He  "walked  to  its  College,  saw  the  new  library,  with  the 
collection  of  pictures,"  and  admired  examples  of  the  art  of 
Raphael,  Yandyke,  and  Rubens.  Had  he  possessed  the  fore- 
sight of  the  Hebrew  seers,  he  would  have  paused,  as  he  crossed 
the  University  quadrangle,  to  admire  a  coming  and  nobler 
proof  of  genius;  for  it  was  in  this  same  year  that  a  young 
man,  destined  to  become  recognized  as  a  chief  benefactor  of 
the  human  race,  came  to  Glasgow  to  seek  employment  as  an 
artisan,  where,  failing  to  find  it  among  the  citizens,  he  found 
sympathy  in  the  learned  Faculty  of  the  University,  and  was 
allowed  a  humble  chamber  within  its  walls.  The  room  is 
reached  from  the  quadrangle  by  a  spiral  stairway,  and  is  still 
preserved  in  its  original  rudeness,  as  too  sacred  to  be  altered. 
In  the  court  below  he  put  out  a  sign  as  "  Mathematical  Instru- 
ment Maker  to  the  University."  He  lived  on  poor  fare,  and 
eked  out  his  subsistence  by  combining,  with  his  work  for  the 
Faculty,  the  manufacture  of  musical  instruments;  he  made 
organs,  and  repaired  flutes,  guitars,  and  violins;  but  mean- 
while studied  assiduously  the  laws  of  physics,  that  he  might 

2 


18  HISTORY   OF    THE 

apply  them  in  an  invention  which  was  to  produce  the  "  great- 
est commercial  and  social  revolution  in  the  entire  history  of 
the  world ; "  a  revolution  with  which  Methodism  was  to  have 
important  relations. 

;  James  Wa<;ty  the  artisan  of  Glasgow  University,  gave  to  the 
world  the  Steam-Engine,  and  to-day  the  aggregate  steam-power 
of  Great  '  Britain,  alorie  equals  the  manual  capability  for  labor 
of  more  than  four  liundred  millions  of  men ;  more  than  twice 
the  number  of  males  capable  of  labor  on  our  planet.  Its 
aggregate  power  throughout  the  earth  is  equal  to  the  male 
capacity,  for  manual  work,  of  iive  or  six  worlds  like  ours. 
The  commerce,  the  navigation,  the  maritime  warfare,  the 
agriculture,  the  mechanic  arts  of  his  race  have  been  revolution- 
ized by  the  genius  of  this  young  man. 

The  invention  of  the  steam-engine  was  more  important  to 
the  new  than  to  the  old  world.  Is  was  vastly  important  to 
the  latter  through  the  former,  for  it  was  the  potent  instrument 
for  the  opening  of  the  boundless  interior  of  the  North  Amer- 
ican continent  to  the  emigration  of  the  European  populations, 
and  the  development  of  that  immense  commerce  which  has 
bound  together  and  enriched  both  worlds.  The  great  rivers 
of  the  new  world,  flowing  with  swift  current,  could  convey 
their  barges  toward  the  sea,  but  admitted  of  no  return. 
The  invention  of  Watt,  applied  by  the  genius  of  Fulton,  has 
conquered  their  resistance,  and  opened  the  grand  domain 
of  the  Mississippi  valley  for  the  formation  of  mighty  states 
in  a  single  generation,  and  marshaled  the  peoples  of  Europe 
to  march  into  the  wilderness  in  annual  hosts  of  hundreds  of 
thousands. 

"Wesley,  who  might  have  saluted,  in  the  quadrangle  of  Glas- 
gow University,  the  struggling  and  dependent  man  whose 
destiny  it  was  to  achieve  these  stupendous  changes,  was  him- 
self actually  preparing  the  only  means  that  could  supply  the 
sudden  and  incalculable  moral  wants  which  they  were  to 
create.  Methodism,  with  its  "  lay  ministry,"  and  "  itinerancy," 
could  alone  afford  the  ministrations  of  religion  to  the  overflow- 
ing population ;  it  was  to  lay  the  moral  foundations  of  many 
of  the  great  states  of  the  West.     The  older  Churches  of  the 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  19 

colonies  could  never  have  supplied  them  with  ' e  regular  "  or 
educated  pastors  in  any  proportion  to  their  rapid  settlement. 
And  in  the  sudden  growth  of  manufacturing  cities  in  both 
England  and  America,  occasioned  by  "Watt's  invention,  Meth- 
odism was  to  find  some  of  the  most  urgent  necessities  for  its 
peculiar  provisions. 

Watt  and  Wesley  might  well  then  have  struck  hands  and 
bid  each  other  godspeed  at  Glasgow  m  1757 :  they  were  co- 
workers for  the  destinies  of  the  new  world. 

The  rapid  settlement  of  the  continent,  especially  after  the 
Revolution,  presented  indeed  a  startling  problem  to  the  relig- 
ious world.  Philosophers,  considering  only  its  colonial  growth, 
anticipated  for  it  a  new  era  in  civilization.  Hume  perceived, 
there  "  the  seeds  of  many  a  noble  state — an  asylum  for  liberty 
and  science."  Montesquieu  predicted  for  it  freedom,  pros- 
perity, and  a  great  people ;  Turgot,  that  "  Europe  herself 
should  find  there  the  perfection  of  her  political  societies  and 
the  firmest  support  of  her  well-being."  Berkeley  pointed  to 
it  as  the  seat  of  future  empire.  Locke  and  Shaftesbury  studied 
out  a  constitutional  polity  for  a  part  at  least  of  its  empire. 
The  fervid  spirit  of  Edwards,  seeing,  with  Bossuet,  in  all 
history  only  the  "  History  of  Redemption,"  dreamed,  in  his 
New  England  retirement,  of  a  millennium  which  was  to  dawn 
in  the  western  hemisphere,  and  thence  burst  upon  the  nations 
and  irradiate  the  globe. 

The  Revolution  strengthened  these  anticipations,  and  in  its 
train  came  events  quite  anomalous  in  the  religious  history  of 
nations.  No  Protestant  prelate  had  hitherto  lived  upon  the 
continent ;  it  now  presented  not  merely  a  Church  without  a 
bishop,  and  a  state  without  a  king,  but  a  state  territorially 
larger  than  any  other  in  the  civilized  world  without  an  ecclesi- 
astical Establishment.  The  State  separated  from  the  Church, 
enfranchising  it  by  divorcing  it.  Religion  was  to  expect  no 
more  legal  support,  except  temporarily,  in  a  few  localities 
where  the  old  system  might  linger  in  expiring.  The  novel 
example  was  contrary  to  the  traditional  training  of  all  Chris- 
tian nations,  and  might  well  excite  the  anxiety  of  Christian 
thinkers  for  the  moral  fate  of  the  new  world.     How  were 


20  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Christian  education,  Churches,  and  pastors  to  be  provided  for 
this  boundless  territory  and  its  multiplying  millions  of  souls  ? 
If  the  "  voluntary  principle  "  were  as  legitimate  as  its  advo- 
cates believed,  yet  could  it  possibly  be  adequate  to  the  moral 
wants  of  the  ever-coming  armies  of  population  which,  under 
the  attractions  of  the  new  country,  were  about  to  pour  in  upon 
and  overspread  its  immense  regions;  armies  far  surpassing 
the  northern  hordes  whose  surging  migrations  swept  away  the 
Roman  empire,  and  with  which  was  to  be  transferred  to  the 
new  world  much  of  the  worst  barbarism  of  the  old  ? 

The  early  training  of  the  country  had  been,  providentially, 
to  a  great  extent  religious,  as  if  preparatory  for  its  future  his- 
tory. Most  of  the  colonies  were  founded  in  religious  motives, 
their  infancy  moulded  by  religion,  their  adolescence  invigorated 
and  hardened  by  war— the  preparation  for  their  independence 
and  liberty,  and  for  a  new  civilization  which  should  be  based  on 
the  sovereignty  of  the  people,  and  should  emancipate  the  new 
world  from  the  ecclesiastical  and  political  traditions  of  the  old. 

But  now  came  a  solemn  crisis  in  the  history  of  these  provi- 
dentially trained  populations,  scattered  almost  from  the  frozen 
zone  to  the  tropics,  treading  a  virgin  soil  of  exhaustless  re- 
sources, and  flushed  with  the  consciousness  of  a  new  develop- 
ment of  humanity.  Their  territory  was  to  enlarge  more  than 
two  thirds ;  their  population  beyond  any  recorded  example. 
Though,  in  their  colonial  growth,  Edwards,  inspired  by  the 
'"  Great  Awakening,"  saw  the  vision  of  the  millennium  flash- 
ing upon  their  mountains  and  valleys,  yet  the  Revolution  and 
national  consolidation,  endowing  them  with  new  and  unexam- 
pled powers,  oppressed  them  with  new  problems.  A  state 
may  exist  without  a  king,  a  Church  without  a  bishop,  a  nation 
without  an  ecclesiastical  establishment;  but  a  people  cannot 
be  without  religion,  without  God ;  they  had  better  cease  to  be. 
And  where  now,  with  a  political  system  which  recognized  no 
one  religion  by  tolerating  all,  which  made  no  provision  for  the 
spiritual  wants  of  the  people,  should  men,  who  believed  relig- 
ion to  be  the  fundamental  condition  of  civil  righteousness  and 
-liberty,  look  for  the  safety  of  the  marvelous  destiny  that  had 
opened  upon  the  new  world  ? 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  21 

The  Eevolution  ended  with  the  treaty  of  peace  in  1783,  and 
then  commenced  a  national  progress  never  anticipated  in  the 
most  sanguine  dreams  of  statesmen.  The  inventive  genius  of 
Watt  and  Fulton  was  to  wave  a  wand  of  miraculous  power 
over  the  land ;  and  not  only  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
stretching  over  twenty  degrees  of  latitude  and  thirty  of  longi- 
tude, with  millions  of  souls  in  our  day,  was  to  open,  like  a 
new  world,  to  navigation  and  settlement ;  but  the  thirty-five 
thousand  miles  of  principal  rivers — above  a  third  more  than 
the  circumference  of  the  globe — besides  the  minor  streams, 
making,  with  the  former,  more  than  forty  thousand  miles  of 
navigable  waters,  were  to  be  thrown  open  as  the  highways  of 
population  and  commerce.  The  masses  of  Europe,  in  millions, 
were  to  enter  these  highways.  The  one  million  and  a  quarter 
(including  blacks)  of  1750,  the  less  than  three  millions  of  1780, 
were  to  be  nearly  four  millions  in  1790 ;  nearly  five  and  a  third 
millions  in  1800 ;  more  than  nine  and  a  half  millions  in  1820 ; 
nearly  thirteen  millions  in  1830.  Thus  far  they  were  to  in- 
crease nearly  thirty-three  and  a  half  per  cent,  in  each  decade. 
Pensioners  of  the  war  of  the  Eevolution  were  to  live  to  see 
the  "  Far  West "  transferred  from  the  valleys  of  Yirginia,  the 
eastern  base  of  the  Pennsylvania  Alleghanies,  and  the  center 
of  New  York,  to  the  great  deserts  beyond  the  Mississippi ;  to 
see  mighty  states,  enriching  the  world,  flourish  on  the,  Pacific 
coast,  and  to  read,  in  New  York,  news  sent  the  same  day 
from  San  Francisco.  Men,  a  few  at  least,  who  lived  when  the 
population  of  the  country  was  less  than  three  millions,  were 
to  live  when  it  should  be  thirty  millions.  If  the  ratio  of  in- 
crease should  continue,  this  population  must  amount,  at  the 
close  of  our  century,  but  thirty-three  years  hence,  to  one  hun- 
dred millions;  exceeding  the  present  population  of  England, 
France,  Switzerland,  Spain,  Portugal,  Sweden,  and  Denmark. 
A  step  further  in  the  calculation  presents  a  prospect  still 
more  surprising :  by  the  year  1930,  which  not  a  few,  living 
in  our  day,  shall  see,  this  mighty  mass  of  commingled  races 
will  have  swollen  to  the  aggregate  of  two  hundred  and  forty- 
six  millions,  nearly  equaling  the  present  population  of  all 
Europe. 


22  HISTORY   OF  THE 

This  growth  of  population,  could  it  take  place  in  an  old 
country,  supplied  for  ages  with  religious  and  educational  foun- 
dations, would  suggest  anxious  moral  questions  to  the  reflec- 
tions of  the  philosopher  and  Christian ;  but  here  it  was  to 
occur  in  the  wilderness  of  savage  life.  "Westward  the  star  of 
empire  takes  its  way,"  sang  Berkeley,  as  he  contemplated  the 
grand  prospect ;  to  the  West  this  overwhelming  flood  was  to 
sweep,  and  thither  was  to  move  with  it  the  power  of  the  nation, 
the  political  forces  which  were  to  take  their  moral  character  from 
these  multitudes  and  impart  it  to  the  nation,  if  not  to  much  of 
the  rest  of  the  world.  Obviously  then  the  ordinary  means  of 
religious  instruction — a  "settled"  pastorate,  a  "regular" 
clergy,  trained  through  years  of  preliminary  education — could 
not  possibly  meet  the  moral  exigencies  of  such  an  unparalleled 
condition.  Any  unfavorable  contingencies,  hanging  over  the 
federal  organization  or  unity  of  the  nation,  could  hardly  affect 
these  exigencies,  except  to  exasperate  them.  A  religious  system, 
energetic,  migratory,  "itinerant,"  extempore,-  like  the  popu- 
lation itself,  must  arise ;  or  demoralization,  if  not  barbarism, 
must  overflow  the  continent. 

Methodism  entered  the  great  arena  at  the  emergent  moment. 
It  was  preparing  to  do  so  while  Wesley  stood  in  the  quad- 
rangle at  Glasgow  beneath  the  window  within  which  Watt 
was  preparing  the  key  to  unlock  the  gates  of  the  Great  West. 
In  the  very  next  year  Wesley  was  to  find  the  humble  man  who 
was  to  be  its  founder  in  the  United  States.  About  the  same 
time  a  youth  in  Staffordshire  was  preparing,  through  many 
moral  struggles,  to  become  its  chief  leader  and  the  chief 
character  in  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  the  new  world,  the 
first  resident  bishop  of  Protestantism  in  the  western  hemi- 
sphere. Methodism  was  not  to  supersede  here  other  forms  of 
faith,  but  to  become  their  pioneer  in  the  opening  wilderness, 
and  to  prompt  their  energies  for  its  pressing  necessities.  It 
was  to  be  literally  the  founder  of  the  Church  in  several  of  the 
most  important  new  states,  individually  as  large  as  some  lead- 
ing kingdoms  of  the  old  world.  It  was  to  become  at  last  the 
dominant  popular  faith  of  the  country,  with  its  standard 
planted  in  every  city,  town,  and  almost  every  village  of  the 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  23 

land.  Moving  in  the  van  of  emigration,  it  was  to  supply,  with 
the  ministrations  of  religion,  the  frontiers  from  the  Canadas  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  from  Puget's  Sound  to  the  Gulf  of  Cali- 
fornia. It  was  to  do  this  indispensable  work  by  means  peculiar 
to  itself;  by  districting  the  land  into  Circuits  which,  from  one 
hundred  to  five  hundred  miles  in  extent,  could  each  be  statedly 
supplied  with  religious  instruction  by  but  one  or  two  traveling 
evangelists,  who,  preaching  daily,  could  thus  have  charge  of 
parishes  comprising  hundreds  of  miles  and  tens  of  thousands 
of  souls.  It  was  to  raise  up,  without  delay  for  preparatory 
training,  and  thrust  out  upon  these  Circuits  thousands  of  such 
itinerants,  tens  of  thousands  of  Local  or  Lay  Preachers  and 
Exhorters,  as  auxiliary  and  unpaid  laborers,  with  many  thou- 
sands of  Class-leaders  who  could  maintain  pastoral  supervision 
over  the  infant  societies  in  the  absence  of  the  itinerant 
preachers,  the  latter  not  having  time  to  delay  in  any  locality 
for  much  else  than  the  public  services  of  the  pulpit.  Over  all 
these  circuits  it  was  to  maintain  the  watchful  jurisdiction  of 
traveling  Presiding  Elders,  and  over  the  whole  system  the 
superintendence  of  traveling  Bishops,  to  whom  the  entire 
nation  was  to  be  a  common  diocese.  It  was  to  govern  the 
whole  field  by  Quarterly  Conferences  for  each  circuit,  Annual 
Conferences  for  groups  of  circuits,  quadrennial  Conferences  for 
all  the  Annual  Conferences.  It  was  to  preach  night  and  day, 
in  churches  where  it  could  command  them,  in  private  houses, 
school-houses,  court-houses,  barns,  in  the  fields,  on  the  high- 
ways. It  was  to  dot  the  continent  with  chapels,  building 
them,  in  our  times  at  least,  at  the  rate  of  one  a  day.  It  was 
to  provide  academies  and  colleges  exceeding  in  number,  if  not 
in  efficiency,  those  of  any  other  religious  body  of  the  country, 
however  older  or  richer.  It  was  to  scatter  over  the  land  cheap 
publications,  all  its  itinerants  being  authorized  agents  for  their 
sale,  until  its  "  Book  Concern  "  should  become  the  largest  relig- 
ious publishing  house  in  the  world.  The  best  authority  for  the 
moral  statistics  of  the  country,  himself  of  another  denomination, 
Dr.  Baird,  was  at  last  to  "  recognize  in  the  Methodist  economy, 
as  well  as  in  the  zeal,  the  devoted  piety,  and  the  efficiency  of 
its  ministry,  one  of  the  most  powerful  elements  in  the  religious 


24  HISTORY    OF    THE 

prosperity  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  one  of  the  firmest 
pillars  of  their  civil  and  political  institutions." 

It  has  been  said  that  Methodism  thus  seems  to  have  been 
providentially  designed  more  for  the  new  world  than  for  the 
old.  The  coincidence  of  its  history  with  that  of  the  United 
States  does  indeed  seem  providential ;  and,  if  such  an  assump- 
tion might  have  appeared  presumptuous  in  its  beginning,  its 
historical  results,  as  impressed  on  all  the  civil  geography  of 
the  country  and  attested  by  the  national  statistics,  now  amply 
justify  the  opinion.  Here,  if  anywhere,  its  results  appear 
to  confirm  the  somewhat  bold  assertion  of  a  philosophic 
thinker  (Isaac  Taylor)  not  within  its  pale,  who  affirms 
"that,  in  fact,  that  great  religious  movement  has,  imme- 
diately or  remotely,  so  given  an  impulse  to  Christian  feeling 
and  profession,  on  all  sides,  that  it  has  come  to  present  itself 
as  the  starting-point  of  our  modern  religious  history ;  that  the 
field-preaching  of  Wesley  and  Whitefield,  in  1739,  was  the 
event  whence  the  religious  epoch,  now  current,  must  date  its 
commencement ;  that  back  to  the  events  of  that  time  must  we 
look,  necessarily,  as  often  as  we  seek  to  trace  to  its  source  what 
is  most  characteristic  of  the  present  time ;  and  that  yet  this  is 
not  all,  for  the  Methodism  of  the  past  age  points  forward  to 
the  next-coming  development  of  the  powers  of  the  Gospel." 

But  what  was  this  phenomenon  of  modern  religious  history, 
this  "religious  movement  of  the  eighteenth  century,  called 
Methodism  ? " 

It  was  not  a  new  dogmatic  phase  of  Protestantism.  They 
err  who  interpret  its  singular  history  chiefly  by  its  theology. 
Its  prominent  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  was  the  prom- 
inent doctrine  of  the  Reformation.  Its  doctrines  of  the 
"  witness  of  the  Spirit  "  and  of  "  sanctification  "  had  been  re- 
ceived, substantially,  if  not  with  the  verbalism  of  Methodism, 
by  all  the  leading  Churches  of  Christendom.  Wesley,  Fletcher, 
and  Sellon  appea'led  to  the  standards  of  the  Anglican  Church 
in  support  of  their  teachings  in  these  respects.  Wesley 
taught  no  important  doctrine  which  is  not  authorized  by  that 
Church,  unless  it  be  what  is  called  his  Arminianism.  But 
even  this  was  dominant  in  the  Anglican  Church  in  certain 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  25 

periods  of  its  history.  In  fine,  none  of  the  important  doc- 
trines taught  by  Wesley  and  his  followers  were  peculiar  to 
them.  That  their  theology  was  necessary  to  their  system,  of 
course,  cannot  be  denied ;  but  it  had  existed,  every  one  of 
its  essential  dogmas,  in  the  general  Church,  without  the  re- 
markable efficacy  of  Methodism.  Calvinistic  Methodism  was 
powerful,  alike  with  Arminian  Methodism,  in  the  outset,  and 
failed  at  last  only  by  the  failure  of  its  ecclesiastical  methods. 
Methodism  differed  from  other  religious  bodies,  in  respect  to 
theology,  chiefly  by  giving  greater  prominence,  more  persistent 
inculcation,  to  truths  which  they  held  in  common,  partic- 
ularly to  the  doctrines  of  Justification  by  Faith,  Assurance, 
and  Sanctification.  These  were  the  current  ideas  of  its  Theol- 
ogy, but  they  were  rendered  incandescent  by  its  spirit,  and 
effective  by  its  methods. 

In  these  two  facts — the  spirit,  and  the  practical  system  of 
Methodism — inheres  the  secret,  if  secret  it  may  be  called,  of 
its  peculiar  power. 

The  "  Holy  Club  "  was  formed  at  Oxford  in  1729,  for  the 
sanctification  of  its  members.  The  Wesleys  there  sought 
personal  purification  by  prayer,  watchings,  fastings,  alms,  and 
Christian  labors  among  the  poor.  George  Whitefield  joined 
them  for  the  same  purpose ;  he  wras  the  first  to  become 
"  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  his  mind  ; "  but  not  till  he  had 
passed  through  a  fiery  ordeal,  till  he  had  spent  "  whole  days 
and  weeks  prostrate  on  the  ground  in  prayer ; "  and  he  was 
saved  at  last  "  by  laying  hold  on  the  cross  by  a  living  faith ; " 
receiving  "  an  abiding  sense  of  the  pardoning  love  of  God, 
and  a  full  assurance  of  faith."  lie  was  hooted  and  pelted 
with  missiles  in  the  streets  by  his  fellow-students,  but  was  pre- 
paring meanwhile  to  go  forth  a  sublime  herald  of  the  new 
u  movement ; "  a  preacher  of  Methodism  in  both  hemispheres ; 
the  greatest  preacher,  it  is  probable,  in  popular  eloquence,  of 
all  the  Christian  ages. 

John  and  Charles  Wesley  continue  the  ineffectual  ascetic 
struggle,  poring  over  the  pages  of  the  "  Imitatione,"  and  the 
"  Holy  Living  and  Dying  ;  "  in  all  things  "  living  by  rule  ;  " 
fasting  excessively ;    and  visiting  the  poor  and  the  prisoner. 


26  HISTORY   OF   THE 

They  find  no  rest  to  their  souls,  untroubled,  as  yet,  by  any 
dogmatic  question,  but  seeking  only  spiritual  life.  "  Holiness, 
without  which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord,"  is  the  cry  of  Wes- 
ley's spirit,  but  he  still  finds  it  not.  "  I  am  persuaded,"  he 
writes,  "  that  we  may  know  if  we  are  now  in  a  state  of  salva- 
tion, since  that  is  expressly  promised  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  to 
our  sincere  endeavors,  and  we  are  surely  able  to  judge  of  our 
own  sincerity."  Taylor's  Holy  Living  and  Dying  teaches  him 
utter  purity  of  motive ;  "  instantly  he  resolves  to  dedicate  all 
his  life  to  God ;  all  his  thoughts  and  words  and  actions ;  being 
thoroughly  convinced  there  is  no  medium."  The  dedication 
is  made,  but  the  light  does  not  come.  The  two  brothers 
determine  to  seek  it  in  the  wilderness  of  the  new  world — to 
"forsake  all,"  become  missionaries  to  the  colonists  and  sav- 
ages, and  perish,  if  need  be,  for  their  souls.  They  accompany 
Oglethorpe  to  Georgia,  and  on  the  voyage  they  witness  the  joy- 
ous faith  of  Moravian  peasants  and  artisans  in  the  perils 
of  storms;  they  are  convinced  that  they  themselves  have  no 
such  faith.  They  question  the  Moravians,  and  get  improved 
views  of  the  spiritual  life,  but  still  grope  in  the  dark.  They 
learn  more  from  the  Moravian  missionaries  in  the  colonies, 
but  sink  into  deeper  anxiety.  They  preach  and  read  the 
Liturgy  every  day  to  the  colonists,  and  teach  their  children  in 
schools.  They  fast  much,  sleep  on  the  ground,  refuse  all  food 
but  bread  and  water.  John  goes  barefooted,  to  encourage  the 
poor  children  who  had  no  shoes.  The  colonists  recoil  from 
their  severities,  and  they  return  to  England  defeated. 

In  sight  of  Land's  End  John  writes  in  his  Journal:  "I 
went  to  America  to  convert  Indians,  but  O,  who  shall  convert 
me  ?  who  is  he  that  will  deliver  me  from  this  evil  heart 
of  unbelief?"  "The  faith  I  want  is  a  sure  trust  and  con- 
fidence in  God,  that  through  the  merits  of  Christ  my  sins  are 
forgiven,  and  1  reconciled  to  the  favor  of  God."  The  Mo- 
ravians meet  him  again  in  London,  where  they  maintain 
several  religious  meetings  in  private  houses.  Both  the 
Wesleys,  turning  away  from  St.  Paul's,  Westminster  Abbey, 
the  dead  Churches,  seek  light  from  heaven  in  these  humble 
assemblies.      They  become  the  associates  of  Peter  Bohler,  a 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  27 

Moravian  preacher,  and  later  a  Moravian  bishop,  a  man 
of  learning  from  the  University  of  Jena,  who,  in  good  Latin, 
converses  with  them  on  divine  "subjects.  John  Wesley  cleaves 
to  him.  The  Moravian  expounds  to  him  faith,  justification  by 
faith,  sanctification  by  faith ;  he  begins  to  "  see  the  promise, 
but  it  is  afar  off."  Bohler  says,  "  He  wept  bitterly  while 
I  was  talking  upon  this  subject,  and  afterward  asked  me 
to  pray  with  him.  I  can  freely  affirm  that  he  is  a  poor 
broken-hearted  sinner,  hungering  after  a  better  righteousness 
than  that  which  he  has  hitherto  had,  even  the  righteousness  of 
Christ."  "I  entreated  him  to  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  for  that  then  not  only  he  hut  many  others  with  him 
would  he  saved" — a  prophetical  intimation  of  the  future 
career  of  "Wesley,  says  a  Moravian  authority.  Thus  prepared, 
Wesley  attends  a  Moravian  meeting  and  hears  Luther's 
Preface  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  read ;  the  truth  breaks 
upon  his  mind.  "  I  felt,"  he  writes,  "  my  heart  strangely 
warmed ;  I  felt  I  did  trust  in  Christ  alone  for  salvation,  and 
an  assurance  was  given  me  that  he  had  taken  away  my  sins, 
even  mine,  and  saved  me  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death." 
Charles  Wesley  had  three  days  before  experienced  the  same 
change ;  "  I  now,"  he  writes,  "  found  myself  at  peace  with 
God.  I  went  to  bed  still  sensible  of  my  own  weakness ;  I 
humbly  hope  to  feel  more  and  more  so ;  yet  confident  of 
Christ's  protection."  Such  is  "regeneration,"  according  to 
Methodism ;  such  the  first  great  truth  of  its  proclamation  to 
the  world. 

The  next  month  John  Wesley  preaches  "  Salvation  by 
faith"  before  the  University  of  Oxford.  He  has  begun  his 
career.  The  Churches  of  London  are  startled  by  his  sermons ; 
by  no  new  truth,  but  the  emphasis  and  power  with  which  he 
declares  old  and  admitted  truths  of  the  Anglican  theological 
standards,  the  "  new  birth,"  the  "  witness  of  the  Spirit,"  and, 
subsequently,  the  doctrine  of  "sanctification,"  a  doctrine 
which,  as  taught  by  Wesley,  is  in  accordance  with  the  highest 
teachings  of  the  Anglican  Church,  "  is,"  says  a  strict  Church- 
man, "essentially  right  and  important;  combining,  in  sub- 
stance, all  the  sublime  morality  of  the  Greek  fathers,  the 


28  HISTORY    OF    THE 

spiritual  piety  of  the  Mystics,  and  the  divine  philosophy  of 
our  favorite  Platonists.  Macarius,  Fenelon,  Lucas,  and  all 
their  respective  classes,  have  been  consulted  and  digested  by 
him,  and  his  ideas  are  essentially  theirs."  *  His  doctrine  of 
faith  seemed  like  a  new  truth  to  the  apathetic  formalism 
of  the  Church,  but  it  was  the  doctrine  of  its  Homilies  and  of 
its  best  theologians. 

The  genius  of  Methodism  was,  then,  evangelical  life ;  and,  in 
theology,  its  chief  concern  was  with  those  doctrines  which  are 
essential  to  personal  religion.  "  What  was  the  rise  of  Method- 
ism ? "  asked  Wesley  in  his  conference  of  1765.  He  answered, 
*  In  1729  my  brother  and  I  read  the  Bible ;  saw  inward  and 
outward  holiness  therein ;  followed  after  it,  and  incited  others 
so  to  do.  In  1737  we  saw  this  holiness  comes  by  faith.  In 
1738  we  saw  we  must  be  justified  before  we  are  sanctified. 
But.  still  holiness  was  our  point ;  inward  and  outward  holiness. 
God  then  thrust  us  out  to  raise  a  holy  people." 

Whitefield  had  startled  the  metropolitan  Churches  before 
Wesley's  arrival,  and,  flaming  with  apostolic  zeal,  had  left  for 
Georgia,  the  vessel  which  bore  him  passing  in  the  channel 
that  which  brought  Wesley ;  but  he  soon  returned,  and  now 
the  Methodistic  movement  began  in  good  earnest.  Its 
apostles  were  excluded  from  the  pulpits  of  London  and 
Bristol ;  they  took  the  open  field,  and  thousands  of  colliers  and 
peasants  stood  weeping  around  them.  They  invaded  the  fairs 
and  merrymakings  of  Moorfields  and  Kennington  Common ; 
ten,  twenty,  sometimes  fifty,  and  even  sixty  thousand  people, 
made  their  audiences.  Their  singing  could  be  heard  two 
miles  off,  and  Whitefield's  voice  a  mile.  The  lowest  dregs  of 
the  population  were  dragged  out  of  the  moral  mire  and  puri- 
fied. The  whole  country  was  soon  astir  with  excitement ;  the 
peasantry  of  Yorkshire,  the  colliers  of  Kingswood  and  New- 
castle, the  miners  of  Cornwall,  gathered  in  hosts  around  the 
evangelists,  for  they  saw  that  here  were  at  last  men,  gowned 
and  ordained,  who  cared  for  their  neglected  souls.  Societies 
were  organized  for  their  religious  training.  Terms  of  member- 
ship in  these  societies  were  necessary,  and  thus  originated  the 
♦Knox:  "  Bishop  Jebb's  Thirty  Years'  Correspondence,"  Letter  xix. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  29 

"  General  Rules,"  a  purely  catholic  document,  with  not  one 
dogmatic  proposition :  the  terms  of  Methodist  communion 
throughout  the  world.  Places  for  their  assemblies  must  be 
provided,  and  on  the  12th  of  May,  1739,  the  foundations  of  a 
building  were  laid  in  Bristol:  the  first  chapel  founded  by 
Methodism  in  the  world.  On  the  14th  of  November  the  "  Old 
Foundry,"  in  London,  was  opened  for  worship  by  Wesley. 
Methodism  thus  early  began  its  edifices,  its  material  fortifica- 
tions. In  this  year  also  its  first  hymn  book,  its  virtual 
Liturgy,  was  published.  It  is  the  recognized  epoch  of  the 
denomination. 

The  societies  need  instructors  in  the  absence  of  Wesley,  who 
now  begins  to  "  itinerate  "  through  the  kingdom,  for  the  clergy 
will  not  take  charge  of  them,  and  exclude  them  from  the  com- 
munion table.  Wesley  appoints  intelligent  laymen  to  read  to 
them  the  Holy  Scriptures.  One  of  these,  Thomas  Maxfield, 
sometimes  explains  his  readings;  he  is  a  man  of  superior 
talents;  the  Countess  of  Huntingdon  (now  an  influential 
Methodist)  hearing  him  often,  encourages  him  to  preach ;  and 
thus  begins  the  lay  ministry  of  Methodism,  whose  ten  thousand 
voices  were  soon  to  be  heard  in  most  of  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
The  societies  multiply  faster  than  the  lay  preachers;  these 
must,  therefore,  travel  from  one  assembly  to  another,  and  thus 
begins  the  "itinerancy."  The  travels  of  the  itinerants  must 
be  assigned  definitive  boundaries,  and  thus  arises  the  "  circuit 
system."  The  societies  must  provide  for  their  chapel  debts 
and  other  expenses ;  the  members  of  that  of  Bristol  are  dis- 
tributed into  companies  of  twelve,  which  meet  weekly  to  pay 
their  "  pennies  "  to  a  select  member,  appointed  over  each,  and 
thus  originates  the  financial  economy  of  Methodism.  They 
find  time,  when  together,  for  religious  conversation  and  ex- 
hortation, and  thus  begins  the  "class-meeting,"  with  its 
"  leader,"  the  nucleus  of  almost  every  subsequent  Methodist 
society  in  the  world,  and  a  necessary  pastoral  counterpart  to 
the  itinerancy.  Many  men  of  natural  gifts  of  speech,  who  are 
not  able  to  travel  as  Preachers,  appear  in  the  societies ;  they 
are  licensed  to  instruct  the  people  in  their  respective  localities, 
and  thus  arise  the  offices  of  "Local  Preachers"  and  "Ex- 


30  HISTORY    OF    THE 

horters,"  laborers  who  have  done  incalculable  service,  and 
have  founded  the  denomination  in  the  United  States,  the  West 
Indies,  Africa,  and  Australia.  Wesley  finds  it  necessary  to 
convene  his  itinerants  annually  for  consultation  and  the  arrange- 
ment of  their  plans  of  labor,  and  thus  is  founded  (June  25, 
1744)  the  Annual  Conference.  Several  of  these  bodies  have  to 
be  formed  in  the  extended  field  of  the  Church  in  the  United 
States,  and,  for  their  joint  action  on  important  measures,  it 
becomes  necessary  to  assemble  them  together  once  in  four 
years,  and  thus  arises  the  American  General  Conference. 

The  Methodists,  Wesley  insisted,  were  raised  up  to  spread 
"  scriptural  holiness  over  these  lands."  Their  mission  being 
purely  spiritual,  their  practical  or  disciplinary  system  was 
founded  purely  in  their  spiritual  designs.  An  Arminian  him- 
self, Wesley  admitted  Calvinists  to  membership  in  his  socie- 
ties. "  One  condition,  and  only  one,"  he  said,  "  is  required — ■' 
a  real  desire  to  save  their  souls."  "  I  desire,"  he  wrrites  to  the 
Methodistic  Churchman,  Yenn,  "to  have  a  league,  offensive 
and  defensive,  with  every  soldier  of  Christ."  "  We  do  not  im- 
pose," he  declared,  "  in  order  to  admission,  any  opinions  what- 
ever ; "  "  this  one  circumstance  is  quite  peculiar  to  Method- 
ism." u  We  ask  only,  '  Is  thy  heart  as  my  heart  ?  If  it  be, 
give  me  thy  hand.' "  "  Is  there  any  other  society  in  Great 
Britain  or  Ireland  so  remote  from  bigotry? — so  truly  of  a 
catholic  spirit?  Where  is  there  such  another  society  in 
Europe  or  in  the  habitable  world?"  In  organizing  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  he  gave  it  Articles  of  Eelig- 
ion  abridged  from  the  English  Articles ;  but  he  did  not 
insert  or  require  them  in  the  General  Eules,  or  terms  of 
membership. 

Such,  then,  was  Methodism — such  its  spirit  and  its  methods. 
It  was  a  revival  Church  in  its  spirit,  a  missionary  Church  in 
its  organization. 

It  spread  rapidly  over  Great  Britain,  into  Scotland,  into  Ire- 
land, to  Nova  Scotia,  the  United  States,  the  West  Indies, 
France,  Africa,  India,  and  was  to  achieve  its  most  remarkable 
triumphs  among  the  Cannibal  Islands  of  the  Southern  Ocean. 
Wesley  became  almost  ubiquitous  in  the  United  Kingdom, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  31 

preaching  daily.  His  lay  preachers  soon  filled  the  land  with 
the  sound  of  the  Gospel.  Chapels  rose  rapidly  in  most  of  the 
country.  Howell  Harris,  amid  storms  of  persecution,  planted 
Methodism  in  Wales,  where  it  has  elevated  the  popular  relig- 
ious condition,  once  exceedingly  low,  above  that  of  Scotland, 
and  has  in  our  day  more  than  twelve  hundred  churches,  Ar- 
minian  and  Calvinistic.  Wesley  traversed  Ireland  as  well  as 
Great  Britain.  He  crossed  the  channel  forty- two  times,  mak- 
ing twenty-one  visits  ;  and  Methodism  has  yielded  there  some 
of  its  best  fruits.  Whitefield,  known  as  a  Calvinist,  and  form- 
ing no  societies,  was  received  in  Scotland.  His  congregations 
were  immense,  filling  valleys  or  covering  hills,  and  his  influence 
quickened  into  life  its  Churches.  He  aided  Harris  in  found- 
ing Calvinistic  Methodism  in  Wales.  The  whole  evangelical 
dissent  of  England  still  feels  his  power.  With  the  Countess 
of  Huntingdon,  he  founded  the  Calvinistic  Methodism  of 
Great  Britain ;  but  such  was  the  moral  unity  of  both  parties, 
the  Arminian  and  the  Calvinistic,  that  the  essential  unity  of 
the  general  Methodistic  movement  was  maintained,  awakening 
to  a  great  extent  the  spiritual  life  of  both  the  national  Church 
and  of  the  Nonconformists,  and  producing  most  of  those 
"Christian  enterprises"  by  which  British  Christianity  has 
since  been  spreading  its  influence  around  the  globe.  The 
British  Bible  Society,  most  of  the  British  Missionary  Societies, 
Tract  Societies,  the  Sunday-school,  religious  periodicals,  cheap 
popular  literature,  negro  emancipation,  Exeter  Hall  with  its 
public  benefits  and  follies,  all  arose  directly  or  indirectly  from 
the  impulse  of  Methodism. 

Whitefield  crossed  the  Atlantic  thirteen  times,  and  jour- 
neyed incessantly  through  the  colonies,  passing  and  repassing 
from  Georgia  to  Maine  like  a  "  flame  of  fire."  The  Congre- 
gational Churches  of  New  England,  the  Presbyterians  and  the 
Baptists  of  the  Middle  States,  and  the  mixed  colonies  of  the 
South,  owe  their  later  religious  life  and  energy  mostly  to  the 
impulse  given  by  his  powerful  ministrations.  The  "  great 
awakening"  under  Edwards  had  not  only  subsided  before 
Whitefield's  arrival,  but  had  reacted.  Whitefield  restored  it, 
and  the  New  England  Churches  received  under  his  labors  an 


32  HISTORY    OF   THE 

inspiration  of  zeal  and  energy  which  has  never  died  out.  He 
extended  the  revival  from  the  Congregational  Churches  of  the 
Eastern  to  the  Presbyterian  Churches  of  the  Middle  States, 
and  throughout  the  Southern  colonies.  "The  stock  from  which 
the  Baptists  of  Virginia  and  those  in  all  the  South  and  South- 
west have  sprung  was  also  Whitefieldian."  The  founder  of 
the  Freewill  Baptists  of  the  United  States  was  converted  under 
the  last  preaching  of  Whitefield. 

Though  Whitefield  did  not  organize  the  results  of  his  labors, 
he  prepared  the  way  for  Wesley's  itinerants  in  the  new  world. 
When  he  descended  into  his  American  grave  they  were  already 
on  his  tracks.  They  came  not  only  to  labor,  but  to  organize 
their  labors  ;  to  reproduce  amid  the  peculiar  moral  necessities 
of  the  new  world  both  the  spirit  and  the  methods  of  the  great 
movement  as  it  had  at  last  been  organized  by  Wesley  in  the 
old,  and  to  render  it  before  many  years  superior  in  the  former, 
in  both  numerical  and  moral  force,  to  the  Methodism  of  the 
latter. 

Such  is  a  rapid  review  of  the  early  development  both  of  the 
United  States  and  of  Methodism  preparatory  for  those  extraor- 
dinary advancements  which  both  have  made.  The  next 
year,  as  has  been  remarked,  after  Wesley  stood  in  the  quad- 
rangle of  Glasgow  University,  where  Watt  about  the  same 
time  hung  out  his  sign,  the  Methodist  apostle  stood  preaching 
in  the  open  air  in  an  obscure  village  of  Ireland  to  the  people 
who  were  destined  to  form  the  first  Methodist  Church  in  the 
United  States.  In  two  years  more  they  arrived  at  New  York, 
in  six  years  more  they  were  organized  as  a  society,  and  thence- 
forward, coincidently  with  the  opening  of  the  continent  by  the 
genius  of  Watt  and  Fulton,  Methodism  has  maintained  Chris- 
tianity abreast  of  the  progress  of  immigration  and  settlement 
throughout  the  states  and  territories  of  the  Union. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  trace  the  humble  beginnings  and 
extraordinary  progress  of  its  mission. 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  3;; 


CHAPTER  II. 

FOTINDEES    OF   THE   METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHUECH. 

In  the  year  1758  Wesley  visited  the  county  of  Limerick,  Ire- 
land. His  Journal  reports  there  a  singular  community,  settled 
in  Court  Mattress,  and  in  Killiheen,  Balligarrane,  and  Pallas, 
villages  within  four  miles  of  Court  Mattress.  They  were  not 
native  Celts,  but  a  Teutonic  population.  Having  been  nearly 
half  a  century  without  pastors  who  could  speak  their  language, 
they  had  become  thoroughly  demoralized  ;  noted  for  drunken- 
ness, profanity,  and  "  utter  neglect  of  religion."  But  the 
Methodist  itinerants  had  penetrated  to  their  hamlets,  and  they 
were  now  a  reformed,  a  devout  people.  They  had  erected  a 
large  chapel  in  the  center  of  Court  Mattress.  "  So  did  God  at 
last  provide,"  writes  Wesley,  "  for  these  poor  strangers,  who, 
for  fifty  years,  had  none  who  cared  for  their  souls."  At  later 
visits  he  declares  that  three  such  towns  as  Court  Mattress, 
Killiheen,  and  Balligarrane  were  hardly  to  be  found  anywhere 
else  in  Ireland  or  England.  There  was  "  no  cursing  or  swear- 
ing, no  Sabbath  breaking,  no  drunkenness,  no  ale-house  in  any 
of  them."  "  They  had  become  a  serious,  thinking  people,  and 
their  diligence  had  turned  all  their  land  into  a  garden.  How 
will  these  poor  foreigners  rise  up  in .  the  day  of  judgment 
against  those  that  are  round  about  them  ! " 

But  the  most  interesting  fact  respecting  this  obscure  colony 
was  not  yet  apprehended  by  Wesley,  or  he  would  have  won- 
dered still  more  at  their  providential  history.  The  Methodism 
of  the  New  World  was  already  germinating  among  them ;  in 
about  two  years  the  prolific  seed  was  to  be  transplanted  to  the 
distant  continent,  and  at  the  time  of  Wesley's  death  (about 
thirty  years  later)  its  vigorous  boughs  were  to  extend  over  the 
land  from  Canada  to  Georgia,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Missis- 
sippi.     In  about  thirty  years   after  Wesley's  death  (1820), 

3 


34  HISTOKY    OF    THE 

American  Methodism  was  to  advance  to  the  front  of  the  great 
"movement,"  with  a  majority  of  more  than  seventeen  thou- 
sand over  the  parent  Church,  including  all  its  foreign  depend- 
encies, and  thenceforward  the  chief  numerical  triumphs  of  the 
denomination  were  to  be  in  the  western  hemisphere. 

But  how  came  this  singular  people,  speaking  a  foreign 
tongue,  into  the  west  of  Ireland  ? 

The  troops  of  Louis  XI Y.  devastated,  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  the  Palatinate,  on  the  Rhine.  Its 
population  was  almost  entirely  Protestant,  the  strongest  reason 
for  the  relentless  violence  of  the  bigoted  monarch  and  his 
army.  The  whole  country  was  laid  waste  ;  the  Elector  Pala- 
tine could  see  from  the  towers  of  Manheim,  his  capital,  no  less 
than  two  cities  and  twenty-five  villages  on  fire  at  once.  The 
peaceable  peasants  fled  before  the  invaders.  Queen  Anne  sent 
ships  to  convey  them  from  Rotterdam  to  England.  More  than 
six  thousand  arrived  in  London,  reduced  to  dependent  poverty. 
About  fifty  families  emigrated  to  Ireland,  where  they  settled, 
near  Rathkeale,  in  the  county  of  Limerick.  A  list  of  those 
who  "  settled  contiguous  to  each  other  on  Lord  Southwell's 
estates"  has  been  published  ;  on  it  are  the  names  of  Embury, 
Heck,  Ruckle,  Switzer,  Gier,  and  others  associated  with  the 
original  Methodists  of  New  York. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  the  "  Irish  Palatines,"  and  thus  did 
the  short-sighted  policy  of  Louis  XIY.  scatter  these  sterling 
Protestants  of  the  Rhine  to  bless  other  lands,  as  his  bigoted 
folly,  in  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  had  sent  half  a 
million  of  his  own  best  subjects  to  enrich,  by  their  skill  and 
virtues,  Switzerland,  Germany,  England,  and  the  North 
American  colonies.  His  attempt  to  suppress  Protestantism  in 
the  Palatinate  led,  through  the  emigration  of  these  Irish  set- 
tlers, to  one  of  the  most  energetic  developments  of  Protestant- 
ism recorded  in  the  modern  history  of  religion. 

Philip  Embury  was  born  in  1728  or  in  1730.  His  family  seem 
not  to  have  been  among  the  original  German  settlers  in  Ireland, 
but  to  have  arrived  there  some  years  later.  He  bore  among 
his  neighbors  the  character  of  an  industrious,  sober,  honest, 
and  obliging  young  man.     Gier,  an  aged  Palatine,  was  school- 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  35 

master  to  the  little  community  of  Balligarrane,  and  taught 
Embury  the  elements  of  knowledge  in  German.  He  after- 
ward studied  in  an  English  school  of  the  neighborhood.  He 
was  apprenticed  to  a  carpenter,  and  became  skillful  in  his  craft. 
Without  remarkable  talents,  he  was  esteemed  not  only  an  up- 
right, but  an  intelligent  youth.  There  remain  fragmentary 
manuscripts  from  his  pen  which  show  that  he  was  an  elegant 
writer.  His  orthography  is  faultless ;  the  punctuation,  and 
certain  abbreviations  customary  at  that  day,  are  given  with 
perfect  accuracy.  One  of  these  records,  in  a  bold  if  not  beau- 
tiful chirography,  is  of  vital  significance  in  his  history.  It 
reads  thus :  "  On  Christmas  day,  being  Monday,  the  25th  of 
December,  in  the  year  1752,  the  Lord  shone  into  my  soul  by  a 
glimpse  of  his  redeeming  love,  being  an  earnest  of  my  redemp- 
tion in  Christ  Jesus,  to  whom  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen." 

It  was  in  this  year,  of  his  conversion,  that  he  first  saw 
Wesley,  who  was  then  traveling  in  the  west  of  Ireland.  With 
Gier  he  ministered  faithfully  to  his  neighbors,  as  a  local 
preacher,  in  the  intervals  of  the  visits  of  the  itinerant  preachers 
on  their  circuit.  There  was  apparently  a  tone  of  deep  pathos 
in  his  quiet  and  somewhat  melancholy  nature.  He  was  diffi- 
dent ;  he  shrank  from  responsibilities,  and  wept  much  while 
preaching.  With  a  party  of  his  brethren  he  emigrated  to  the 
New  World.  The  company  included  his  wife,  Mary  Switzer ; 
two  of  his  brothers  and  their  families ;  Peter  Switzer,  probably 
a  brother  of  his  wife ;  Paul  Heck  and  Barbara  his  wife ;  Yaler 
Tettler  ;  Philip  Morgan  and  a  family  of  the  Dulmages.  The 
vessel  arrived  safely  in  New  York  on  the  10th  of  August,  1760. 

It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that,  on  arriving  in  New  York, 
Embury,  a  Class-leader  and  also  a  licensed  Local  Preacher  in 
Ireland,  attempted  some  religious  care  of  the  few  Methodists 
who  had  accompanied  him;  but  they  fell  away  from  their 
steadfastness  in  the  temptations  of  their  new  condition,  and  he, 
yielding  to  discouragement,  appears  not  to  have  used  his  office 
as  a  Preacher  till  the  autumn  of  1766.  One  of  our  best  au- 
thorities in  Methodistic  antiquarian  researches  says:  "  The 
families  who  accompanied  him  were  not  all  Wesleyans — only 
few  of  them ;  the  remainder  were  members  of  the  Protestant 


36  HISTORY    OF   THE 

Church  in  Ireland,  but  made  no  profession  of  an  experimental 
knowledge  of  God,  in  the  pardon  of  sin  and  adoption.  After 
their  arrival  in  New  York,  with  the  exception  of  Embury  and 
three  or  four  others,  they  all  finally  lost  their  sense  of  the  fear 
of  God,  and  became  open  worldlings.  Some  subsequently  fell 
into  greater  depths  of  sin  than  others.  Late  in  the  year  1J65 
another  vessel  arrived  in  New  York,  bringing  over  Paul  Ruckle, 
Luke  Rose,  Jacob  Heck,  Peter  Barkman,  and  Henry  Williams, 
with  their  families.  These  were  Palatines,  some  of  them  rel- 
atives of  Embury,  and  others  his  former  friends  and  neighbors. 
A  few  of  them  only  were  Wesleyans.  Mrs.  Barbara  Heck, 
who  had  been  residing  in  New  York  since  1760,  visited  them 
frequently.  One  of  the  company,  Paul  Ruckle,  was  her  eldest 
brother.  It  was  when  visiting  them  on  one  of  these  occasions 
that  she  found  some  of  the  party  engaged  in  a  game  of  cards ; 
there  is  no  proof,  either  direct  or  indirect,  that  any  of  them 
were  "Wesleyans,  and  connected  with  Embury.  Her  spirit  was 
roused,  and,  doubtless  emboldened  by  her  long  and  intimate 
acquaintance  with  them  in  Ireland,  she  seized  the  cards,  threw 
them  into  the  fire,  and  then  most  solemnly  warned  them  of 
their  danger  and  duty.  Leaving  them,  she  went  immediately 
to  the  dwelling  of  Embury,  who  was  her  cousin.  It  was  lo- 
cated upon  Barrack-street,  now  Park  Place.  After  narrating 
what  she  had  seen  and  done,  under  the  influence  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  and  with  power  she  appealed  to  him  to  be  no  longer 
silent,  but  to  preach  the  word  forthwith.  She  parried  his  ex- 
cuses, and  urged  him  to  commence  a.t  once  in  his  own  house, 
and  to  his  own  people.  He  consented,  and  she  went  out  and 
collected  four  persons,  who,  with  herself,  constituted  his  audi- 
ence. After  singing  and  prayer  he  preached  to  them,  and 
enrolled  them  in  a  class.  He  continued  thereafter  to  meet 
them  weekly.  Embury  was  not  among  the  card-players,  nor 
in  the  same  house  with  them." 

The  little  company  soon  grew  too  large  for  Embury's  house ; 
they  hired  a  more  commodious  room  in  the  neighborhood, 
where  he  continued  to  conduct  their  worship,  its  expenses  being 
met  by  voluntary  contributions.  In  a  few  months  there  were 
two  "  classes,"  one  of  men,  the  other  of  women,  including  six 


'     //>:  ''/.;// 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  37 

or  seven  members  each.  JSTo  little  excitement  began  soon  to 
prevail  in  the  city  on  account  of  these  meetings,  and  they 
were  thronged  with  spectators. 

About  February,  1767,  the  little  assembly  at  Embury's 
house  were  surprised,  if  not  alarmed,  by  the  appearance  among 
them  of  a  stranger  in  military  costume,  girt  with  his  sword. 
He  was  an  officer  of  the  royal  army.  "  All  eyes  were  upon 
him ;  had  he  come  to  persecute  them,  to  interrupt  their  relig- 
ious services,  or  prohibit  them  from  worshiping  8  "  He  soon 
relieved  their  apprehensions  by  his  devout  participation  in 
their  devotions.  When  they  sung  he  rose  with  them,  when 
they  prayed  he  knelt.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  service  he  in- 
troduced himself  to  the  preacher  and  his  leading  brethren  as 
Captain  Thomas  Webb,  of  the  king's  service,  but  also  "a 
soldier  of  the  cross,  and  a  spiritual  son  of  John  Wesley.  They 
were  overjoyed,  and  hailed  him  as  a  i  brother  beloved.' "  He 
had  been  authorized  by  Wesley  to  preach ;  they  offered  him 
their  humble  desk,  and  thenceforward  Captain  Thomas 
Webb  was  to  be  one  of  the  chief  founders  of  American 
Methodism. 

A  very  interesting  character  is  this  "  good  soldier  of  the 
Lord  Jesus."  '■"  The  brave  are  generous,"  says  the  old  maxim. 
Thomas  Webb's  benignant  face  showed  that  he  had  both 
qualities.  It  presented  the  lineaments  of  a  singularly  tender, 
a  fatherly  heart,  and  there  was  no  little  "  fire  "  and  pathos  in 
his  elocution.  He  wore  a  shade  over  one  of  his  eyes,  a  badge 
of  his  courage ;  for  he  had  been  at  the  siege  of  Louisburg,  and 
had  scaled  with  Wolfe  the  Heights  of  Abraham,  and  fought 
in  the  battle  of  Quebec.  He  had  lost  his  right  eye  at  Louis- 
burg, and  was  wounded  in  his  right  arm  at  Quebec.  About 
eight  years  after  the  battle  of  the  Plains  of  Abraham  he  heard 
John  Wesley  preach  in  Bristol ;  he  now  became  a  decidedly 
religious  man,  and,  in  1765,  joined  a  Methodist  society. 
Entering  a  Methodist  congregation  at  Bath,  which  was  disap- 
pointed by  its  circuit  preacher,  he  advanced  to  the  altar,  in 
his  regimentals,  and  addressed  them  with  great  effect,  chiefly 
narrating  his  own  Christian  experience.  Wesley,  ever  vigilant 
for  "helpers,"  licensed  him  to  preach,  and  through  the  re- 


38  HISTORY   OF    THE 

mainder  of  his  life  he  was  indefatigable  in  Christian  labors 
both  in  the  New  World  and  in  the  Old ;  preaching,  giving 
his  money,  founding  societies,-  and  attending  Conferences. 
There  must  have  been  an  eminent  power  of  natural  elo- 
quence in  the  preaching  of  this  zealous  man.  John  Adams, 
the  statesman  of  the  American  Revolution  and  President  of 
the  Republic,  heard  him  with  admiration,  and  describes  him 
as  "the  old  soldier — one  of  the  most  eloquent  men  I  ever 
heard;  he  reaches  the  imagination  and  touches  the  passions 
very  well,  and  expresses  himself  with  great  propriety."  By 
another  hearer  he  is  spoken  of  as  "a  perfect  Whitefield  in 
declamation."  A  high  Methodist  authority,  who  knew  the 
captain  well,  says,  "  They  saw  the  warrior  in  his  face,  and 
heard  the  missionary  in  his  voice.  Under  his  holy  eloquence 
they  trembled,  they  wept,  and  fell  down  under  his  mighty 
word." 

Such  was  the  stranger  in  uniform,  whose  sudden  appear- 
ance startled  the  little  assembly  of  Embury's  hearers.  He 
had  heard  of  them  at  Albany,  where  he  had  lived  a  short  time 
before  as  Barrack-master,  and  where  he  had  opened  his  house 
for  religious  services,  conducted  by  himself.  He  had  hastened 
to  New  York  to  encourage  the  struggling  society.  Following 
the  custom  of  the  times,  he  always  wore  his  military  dress  in 
public.  He  preached  in  it,  with  his  sword  lying  on  the  table 
or  desk  before  him.  The  populace  were  attracted  by  the 
spectacle,  and  soon  crowded  the  preaching  room  beyond  its 
capacity.  A  rigging  loft,  sixty  feet  by  eighteen,  on  William- 
street,  was  rented  in  1767.  Here  Webb  and  Embury  preached 
thrice  a  week  to  crowded  assemblies.  "It  could  not  contain 
half  the  people  who  desired  to  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord." 

Webb  saw  the  necessity  of  a  chapel ;  but  he  was  anticipated 
in  the  design  by  Barbara  Heck,  who  was  really  the  foundress 
of  American  Methodism.  This  "elect  lady"  had  watched 
devoutly  the  whole  progress  of  the  infant  society  thus  far. 
She  was  a  woman  of  deep  piety.  From  the  time  that,  "  falling 
prostrate"  before  Embury,  and  "entreating  him  with  tears  to 
preach  to  them,"  she  had  recalled  him  to  his  duty  by  the  solemn 
admonition,  "  God  will  require  our  blood  at  your  hand,"  she 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       39 

seems  to  have  anticipated,  with  the  spirit  of  a  prophetess,  the 
great  possible  results  of  Methodism  in  the  New  World.  Seeing 
the  growth  of  the  cause  and  the  importance  of  a  permanent 
temple,  "  she  had  made,'7  she  said,  "  the  enterprise  a  matter 
of  prayer ;  *and,  looking  to  the  Lord  for  direction,  had  received 
with  inexpressible  sweetness  and  power  the  answer,  'I  the 
Lord  will  do  it.' "  In  the  fervor  of  her  wishes  and  prayers, 
an  economical  plan  for  the  edifice  was  devised  in  her  mind. 
She  considered  it  a  suggestion  from  God.  It  was  approved 
by  the  society,  and  the  first  structure  of  the  denomination  in 
the  western  hemisphere  was  a  monumental  image  of  the  hum- 
ble thought  of  this  devoted  woman.  Webb  entered  heartily 
into  the  undertaking.  It  would  probably  not  have  been  at- 
tempted without  his  aid.  He  subscribed  thirty  pounds  toward 
it,  the  largest  sum  by  one  third  given  by  any  one  person.  He 
was  one  of  its  original  trustees,  Embury  being  first  on  the 
list — first  trustee,  first  treasurer,  first  Class-leader,  and  first 
Preacher.  They  leased  the  site  on  John-street  in  1768,.  and 
purchased  it  in  1770. 

The  chapel  was  built  of  stone,  faced  with  blue  plaster.  It 
was  sixty  feet  in  length,  forty-two  in  breadth.  Dissenters 
were  not  yet  allowed  to  erect  "regular  churches"  in  the  city ; 
the  new  building  was  therefore  provided  with  "  a  fireplace  and 
chimney"  to  avoid  "the  difficulty  of  the  law."  Though  long 
unfinished  in  its  interior,  it  was  "  very  neat  and  clean,  and  the 
floor  was  sprinkled  over  with  sand  as  white  as  snow."  Em- 
bury, being  a  skillful  carpenter,  "  wrought "  diligently  upon 
the  structure.  He  constructed  with  his  own  hands  its  pulpit ; 
and  on  the  memorable  30th  of  October,  1768,  mounted  the 
desk  he  had  made,  and  dedicated  the  humble  temple  by  a  ser- 
mon on  Hosea  x,  12 :  "  Sow  to  yourselves  in  righteousness, 
reap  in  mercy ;  break  up  your  fallow  ground,  for  it  is  time  to 
seek  the  Lord,  till  he  come  and  reign  righteousness  upon  you." 
The  house  was  soon  thronged.  Within  two  years  from  its 
consecration  we  have  reports  of  at  least  a  thousand  hearers 
crowding  it  and  the  area  in  its  front.  It  was  named  Wesley 
Chapel,  and  was  the  first  in  the  world  that  bore  that  title. 
Seven  months  after  its  dedication  a  letter  to  Wesley,  concern- 


40  HISTORY    OF    THE 

ing  Embury  and  "Webb,  said,  *  The  Lord  carries  on  a  very 
great  work  by  these  two  men."  The  city  at  this  time  con- 
tained about  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  the  colonies  but 
about  three  millions.  Methodism  was  thenceforward  to  grow 
alike  with  the  growth  of  the  city  and  of  the  continent. 

Webb  was  practically  an  itinerant  preacher.  Being  at  last 
on  the  retired  list,  with  the  title  and  pay  of  a  captain  for 
his  honorable  services,  he  had  leisure  for  travel.  The  kin- 
dred of  his  wife  lived  at  Jamaica,  L.  I.  He  went  thither, 
hired  a  house,  and  preached  in  it,  and  u  twenty-four  persons 
received  justifying  grace."  He  passed  repeatedly  through 
New  Jersey,  forming  societies  at  Pemberton,  Trenton,  Bur- 
lington, and  other  places.  He  was  the  founder  of  Meth- 
odism in  Philadelphia,  where  he  first  preached  in  a  sail-loft, 
and  formed  a  class  of  seven  members  in  1767  or  1768.  He 
continued  to  preach  in  that  city  more  or  less  till  Wesley's  itin- 
erants arrived,  and  was  there  to  welcome  them  in  person  in 
1769.  He  aided  in  the  purchase  of  the  first  Methodist  church 
of  Philadelphia,  St.  George's,  in  1770,  contributing  liberally 
for  it.  He  introduced  Methodism  into  Delaware  in  1769, 
preaching  in  Newcastle,  Wilmington,  and  in  the  woods  on 
the  shores  of  the  Brandywine.  Still  later  he  labored  in  Bal- 
timore. 

Having  thus  founded  the  new  cause  on  Long  Island,  in  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  Delaware,  and  prominently  helped 
to  found  it  in  New  York,  he  appealed  to  British  Methodism 
for  aid,  urging  Wesley  to  send  out  preachers.  In  1772  he  re- 
turned to  England,  apparently  to  promote  the  interest  of  the 
Wesleyans  for  the  colonies.  He  made  a  spirited  appeal  for 
missionaries  at  the  Conference  in  Leeds,  and  led  back  with  him, 
to  America,  Shadford  and  Rankin ;  Pilmoor  and  Boardman 
having  been  previously  sent  in  response  to  his  urgent  letters. 
Re-embarking  with  his  two  missionaries  in  1773,  he  continued 
his  travels  and  labors  with  unabated  zeal  till  the  breaking  out 
of  the  Revolution,  when  he  returned  finally  to  Europe. 

Embury  continued  to  minister  faithfully  in  his  chapel  twice 
or  thrice  a  week.  "  There  were  at  first  no  stairs  or  breastwork 
to  the  galleries  ;"  they  were  ascended  by  a  rude  ladder.    "  Even 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  41 

the  seats  on  the  lower  floor  had  no  backs."  The  "  singing 
was  congregational ;  some  one  set  the  tune,  the  rest  joined  in, 
and  they  made  melody  to  the  Lord."  There  was  no  vestry 
nor  class-room  ;  "  the  classes  met  in  private  houses."  A  par- 
sonage, adjacent  to  the  chapel,  was  erected  in  1770 — a  small 
house,  furnished  chiefly  with  articles  given  or  lent  by  the 
people.  Wesley's  first  missionaries,  Pilmoor  and  Boardman, 
arrived  in  the  colonies  in  the  autumn  of  1769,  and  not  long 
after  the  faithful  carpenter  retired  from  the  city  to  Camden,  a 
settlement  in  the  town  of  Salem,  Washington  county,  Eew 
York.  Thither  he  was  accompanied  by  Peter  Switzer,  Abra- 
ham Bininger,  a  Moravian,  who  had  crossed  the  Atlantic  to 
Georgia  with  Wesley  in  1735,  and  others  of  his  companions. 
He  there  continued  to  labor  as  a  local  preacher,  and  formed  a 
society,  chiefly  of  his  own  countrymen,  at  Ashgrove — the  first 
Methodist  class  within  the  bounds  of  the  "Troy  Conference, 
which  in  our  day  reports  more  than  25,000  communicants,  and 
more  than  200  traveling  preachers.  He  was  held  in  high  esti- 
mation by  his  neighbors,  and  officiated  among  them  not  only 
as  a  preacher,  but  as  a  magistrate.  While  mowing  in  his  field 
in  1775,  he  injured  himself  so  severely  as  to  die  suddenly,  aged 
but  forty-five  years,  "  greatly  beloved  and  much  lamented," 
says  Asbury.  Some  of  his  family  emigrated  to  Upper  Canada, 
and,  with  the  family  of  Barbara  Heck,  were  among  the  found- 
ers of  Methodism  in  that  province.  Thus  we  end  reluctantly 
the  meager  narrative  of  what  knowledge  remains  respecting 
this  humble  but  honored  man,  whose  name  will  probably 
never  be  forgotten  on  earth  "  till  the  heavens  be  no  more." 
Barbara  Heck  lived  and  died  a  model  of  womanly  piety — "  a 
Christian  of  the  highest  order  ;  she  lived  much  in  prayer,  and 
had  strong  faith  ;  and  therefore  God  used  her  for  great  good." 
Some  of  her  descendants  have  been  conspicuous  in  the  prog- 
ress of  Methodism. 


42  HISTORY    OF    THE 


CHAPTER  ni. 

EISE   OF   METHODISM    IN    MARYLAND. 

Robert  Strawbridge  was  born  at  Drumsnagh,  near  the 
river  Shannon,  in  the  county  of  Leitrim,  Ireland.  Being  an 
Irishman  by  nativity  and  education,  if  not  by  blood,  he  had 
the  characteristic  traits  of  his  countrymen  :  he  was  generous, 
energetic,  fiery,  versatile,  somewhat  intractable  to  authority, 
and  probably  improvident.  He  came  to  America  to  secure  a 
more  competent  livelihood — "  which  object,  however,  he  never 
accomplished  " — and  plunged  at  once,  with  his  young  wife,  into 
the  "  backwoods ;"  for  Frederick  county,  where  he  settled  on 
"  Sam's  Creek,"  had  but  recently  been  reclaimed  from  the 
perils  of  savage  invasion.  He  opened  his  house  for  preach- 
ing ;  formed  in  it  a  Methodist  Society ;  and,  not  long  after, 
built  the  "Log  Meeting-house"  on  Sam's  Creek,  about  a  mile 
from  his  home.  He  buried  beneath  its  pulpit  two  of  his 
children.  It  was  a  rude  structure,  twenty-two  feet  square, 
and,  though  long  occupied,  was  never  finished,  but  remained 
without  windows,  door,  or  floor.  "  The  logs  were  sawed  on 
one  side  for  a  doorway,  and  holes  were  made  on  the  other 
three  sides  for  windows." 

He  became  virtually  an  itinerant,  journeying  to  and  fro  in 
not  only  his  own  large  county,  (then  comprehending  three 
later  counties,)  but  in  Eastern  Maryland,  Delaware,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  Virginia  ;  preaching  with  an  ardor  and  a  fluency 
which  surprised  his  hearers,  and  drew  them  in  multitudes  to 
his  rustic  assemblies.  He  seemed  disposed  literally  to  let  the 
morrow,  if  not,  indeed,  the  day,  take  care  of  itself.  "  During 
his  life  he  was  poor,  and  the  family  were  often  straitened  for 
food ;  but  he  was  a  man  of  strong  faith,  and  would  say  to 
them  on  leaving,  '  Meat  will  be  sent  here  to-day.' "  His  fre- 
quent calls  to  preach  in  distant  parts  of  the  country  required 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  43 

so  much  of  his  time  that  his  family  were  likely  to  suffer  in  his 
absence,  so  that  it  became  a  question  with  him  "  who  will 
keep  the  wolf  from  my  own  door  while  I  am  abroad  seeking 
after  the  lost  sheep  ? "  His  neighbors,  appreciating  his  gener- 
ous zeal  and  self-sacrifice,  agreed  to  take  care  of  his  little  farm, 
gratuitously,  in  his  absence. 

The  Sam's  Creek  Society,  consisting  at  first  of  but  twelve 
or  fifteen  persons,  was  a  fountain  of  good  influence  to  the 
county  and  the  state.  It  early  gave  four  or  five  Preachers  to 
the  itinerancy.  Strawbridge  founded  Methodism  in  Balti- 
more and  Harford  counties.  The  first  society  in  the  former 
was  formed  by  him  at  the  house  of  Daniel  Evans,  near  the 
city,  and  the  first  chapel  of  the  county  was  erected  by  it.  The 
first  native  Methodist  Preacher  of  the  continent,  Kichard 
Owen,  was  one  of  his  converts  in  this  county ;  a  man  who 
labored  faithfully  and  successfully  as  a  Local  Preacher  for  some 
years,  and  who  entered  the  itinerancy  at  last,  and  died  in  it. 
He  was  long  the  most  effective  co-laborer  of  Strawbridge, 
traveling  the  country  in  all  directions,  founding  Societies  and 
opening  the  way  for  the  coming  itinerants. 

Owen's  temperament  was  congenial  with  that  of  Straw- 
bridge.  He  clung  to  the  hearty  Irishman  with  tenacious 
affection,  emulated  his  missionary  activity,  and  at  last  followed 
him  to  the  grave,  preaching  his  funeral  sermon  to  a  "vast 
concourse,"  under  a  large  walnut-tree.  "  Richard  Owen,  the 
first  Methodist  Preacher  raised  up  in  America,"  says  Lednum, 
our  best  chronicler  of  these  dim,  early  times,  "  was  a  Local 
Preacher  in  Baltimore  Circuit.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he 
had  been  preaching  fifteen  or  sixteen  years.  Though  he  had 
charge  of  a  large  family,  he  traveled  and  preached  much  as  a 
Local  Preacher,  in  what  was  then  the  back  settlements,  when 
Methodism  was  in  its  infancy.  He  was  a  man  of  sound  heart, 
plain  address,  good  utterance,  and  solid  judgment;  and  for 
the  last  two  years  of  his  life  he  gave  himself  up  wholly  to  the 
work  of  saving  souls." 

Several  Preachers  were  rapidly  raised  np  by  Strawbridge  in 
his  travels  in  Baltimore  and  Harford  counties :  Sater  Stephen- 
son, Nathan  Perigau,  Eichard  Webster,  and  others  ;  and  many 


44  HISTORY   OF   THE 

laymen,  whose  families  have  been  identified  with  the  whole 
subsequent  progress  of  Methodism  in  their  respective  local- 
ities, if  not  in  the  nation  generally.  We  have  frequent 
intimations  of  Strawbridge's  labors  and  success  in  the  early 
biographies  of  Methodism,  but  they  are  too  vague  to  admit  of 
any  consecutive  narration  of  his  useful  career.  We  discover 
him  now  penetrating  into  Pennsylvania,  and  then  arousing  the 
population  of  the  Eastern  shore  of  Maryland ;  now  bearing 
the  standard  into  Baltimore,  and  then,  with  Owen,  planting  it 
successfully  in  Georgetown,  on  the  Potomac,  and  in  other 
places  in  Fairfax  county,  Virginia ;  and  by  the  time  that  the 
regular  itinerancy  comes  effectively  into  operation  in  Mary- 
land, a  band  of  Preachers,  headed  by  such  men  as  Watters, 
Gatch,  Bonham,  Haggerty,  Durbin,  Garrettson,  seem  to  have 
been  prepared,  directly  or  indirectly  through  his  instrumen- 
tality, for  the  more  methodical  prosecution  of  the  great  cause. 
At  last  we  find  his  own  name  in  the  Minutes  (in  1773  and 
1775)  as  an  itinerant.  He  seems  to  have  become  settled 
finally  as  Preacher  to  the  Sam's  Creek  and  Brush  Forest 
Societies ;  the  latter  being  in  Harford  county,  and  its  chapel 
the  second  built  in  Maryland.  We  trace  him  to  the  upper 
part  of  Long  Green,  Baltimore  county,  where  an  opulent 
and  generous  public  citizen,  Captain  Charles  Ridgely,  who 
admired  his  character  and  sympathized  with  his  poverty, 
gave  him  a  farm,  free  of  rent,  for  life.  It  was  while  residing 
here,  "  under  the  shadow  of  Hampton,"  his  benefactor's 
mansion,  that,  in  "  one  of  his  visiting  rounds  to  his  spiritual 
children,  he  was  taken  sick  at  the  house  of  Joseph  Wheeler, 
and  died  in  great  peace ; "  probably  in  the  summer  of  1781. 
Owen,  as  has  been  remarked,  preached  his  funeral  sermon  in 
the  open  air,  to  a  great  throng,  "  under  a  tree  at  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  house."  Among  the  concourse  were  a 
number  of  his  old  Christian  neighbors,  worshipers  in  the 
"  Log  Chapel,"  to  whom  he  had  been  a  Pastor  in  the  wilder- 
ness ;  they  bore  him  to  the  tomb,  singing  as  they  marched  one 
of  those  rapturous  lyrics  with  which  Charles  Wesley  taught 
the  primitive  Methodists  to  triumph  over  the  grave.  He  was 
of  "  medium  size,  of  dark  complexion,  black  hair,  had  a  sweet 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  45 

voice,  and  was  an  excellent  singer."  He  will  be  for  ever 
memorable  as  the  contemporary  of  Embury  and  "Webb,  in 
founding  the  denomination. 

Thus  did  Methodism  begin  simultaneously,  or  nearly  so,  in 
the  north  and  in  the  middle  of  the  opening  continent.  Its 
first  two  chapels  were  befittingly  humble  ;  their  very  humble- 
ness being  not  only  an  adaptation  to  its  peculiar  mission 
among  the  poor,  but  giving,  by  contrast  with  the  grandeur  of 
its  still  advancing  results,  a  peculiar  moral  sublimity,  a  divine 
attestation,  to  the  great  cause  of  which  they  were  the  first 
monuments.  Each  was  in  its  lowly  sphere  an  evangelical 
Pharos,  shedding  out  a  pure  though  modest  light,  the  rays  of 
which  extended,  blended,  and  brightened,  till  they  streamed, 
a  divine  illumination,  over  the  whole  heavens  of  the  nation, 
and  fell  in  scattered  radiance,  like  the  light  of  the  morning, 
on  many  of  the  ends  of  the  earth. 


46  HISTORY   OF   THE 


CHAPTER  IV. 

EARLY  LAY  EVANGELISTS. 

The  introduction  of  Methodism  into  America,  demanded  by 
the  great  movement  of  transatlantic  immigration,  was  an 
incident  of  that  movement.  The  new  and  urgent  necessity 
thus  evolved  a  moral  provision  for  itself.  Embury  and  the 
Palatines,  Strawbridge,  and  scores,  probably  hundreds,  of  other 
Methodists,  individually  scattered  through  the  colonies,  had 
been  floated,  as  it  were,  by  the  insetting  current  to  the  shores 
of  the  New  World,  and  soon  became  the  centers  of  religious 
societies  among  its  Atlantic  communities.  Borne  along  by 
the  irresistible  stream,  apparently  submerged  at  times  in  its 
tumultuous  course,  many  of  them  reappeared  in  the  remote 
interior  settlements  and  became  the  germs  of  early  Methodist 
Churches  in  the  desert.  The  Emburys,  the  Hecks,  and  some 
of  their  associates,  bore  Methodism  not  only  to  Northern  New 
York,  but  at  last  to  Upper  Canada,  years  before  any  regu- 
lar itinerants  penetrated  that  province.  The  Preachers  and 
laymen  of  Maryland  bore  it  to  the  South  and  across  the 
Alleghanies,  and  scattered  the  precious  seed  over  the  valleys 
of  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi. 

The  little  society  in  New  York,  worshiping  in  their  un- 
finished temple,  without  a  choir,  without  backs  to  their  seats, 
and  climbing  a  rude  ladder  to  their  galleries,  seemed  instinct- 
ively conscious  of  their  great  coming  history.  Letters  were 
sent  by  them  to  England  calling  for  missionary  pastors. 
Thomas  Taylor,  one  of  their  original  Church  officers,  wrote 
to  Wesley  in  their  name  as  early  as  1768  ;  "  We  want,"  he 
said,  "  an  able  and  experienced  Preacher,  one  who  has  both 
gifts  and  graces  necessary  for  the  work.  With  respect  to 
money  for  the  payment  of  the  Preachers'  passage  over,  if  they 
cannot  procure  it  we  will  sell  our  coats  and  shirts  to  procure 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  47 

it  for  them.  Great  numbers  of  serious  persons  come  to  hear 
God's  word  as  for  their  lives;  and  their  numbers  have  so 
increased  that  our  house,"  still  the  Eigging-loft,  "  for  these  six 
weeks  past  could  not  contain  half  the  people."  They 
were  now  planning  for  the  erection  of  Wesley  Chapel,  and 
spent  "  two  several  days  of  fasting  and  prayer  for  the  direction 
of  God,  and  his  blessing  on  their  proceedings."  Send  us 
a  Preacher,  they  cry  to  "Wesley,  "  for  the  good  of  thousands 
send  one  at  once,"  "  one  whose  heart  and  soul  are  in  the 
work  ;  "  and  they  predict  "  that  such  a  flame  should  be  soon 
kindled  as  would  never  stop  until  it  reached  the  great  South 
Sea."  Even  Wesley's  faith  might  have  been  startled  at  the 
geographical  reach  of  the  sanguine  prophecy ;  but  it  has  long 
since  been  fulfilled.  American  Methodism  has  planted  its 
standard  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  if  it  has  not  borne  it 
thence  to  Polynesia  it  is  because  British  Methodism  had  taken 
possession  of  the  "great  South  Sea,"  and  raised  among  its 
cannibal  populations  the  purest  Churches  now  to  be  found  on 
the  earth,  with  native  chieftains  and  kings  in  their  ministry. 

These  and  other  appeals  could  not  fail  of  effect  in  England. 
The  rapid  progress  of  Methodism  there  had  impressed  most 
minds,  in  its  own  communion,  with  a  vague  but  glowing  an- 
ticipation of  general  if  not  universal  triumphs.  The  news  of 
the  dawn  of  their  cause  in  the  New  World  spread  among  the 
people  before  the  Annual  Conference  was  called  upon  to 
recognize  and  provide  for  it ;  and  before  the  itinerant  mis- 
sionaries could  be  dispatched  across  the  Atlantic,  humbler 
men,  imbued  with  the  enthusiasm 'of  the  new  movement,  were 
ready  to  throw  themselves  upon  the  hazards  of  the  distant 
field,  that  they  might  share  in  its  first  combats.  One  of  these, 
Robert  Williams,  applied  to  Wesley  for  authority  to  preach 
there  ;  permission  was  given  him  on  condition  that  he  should 
labor  in  subordination  to  the  missionaries  who  were  about  to 
be  sent  out.  Williams's  impatient  zeal  could  not  wait  for  the 
missionaries ;  he  appealed  to  his  friend  Ashton,  who  afterward 
became  an  important  member  of  Embury's  society.  Ashton 
was  induced  to  emigrate  by  the  promise  of  Williams  to  accom- 
pany him.     Williams  was  poor,  but,  hearing  that  his  friend 


48  HISTORY   OF   THE 

was  ready  to  embark,  lie  hastened  to  the  port,  sold  his  horse 
to  pay  his  debts,  and,  carrying  his  saddle-bags  on  his  arm,  set 
off  for  the  ship  with  a  loaf  of  bread,  a  bottle  of  milk,  but  no 
money  for  his  passage.  Ash  ton  "  paid  the  expense  of  his  voy- 
age, and  they  landed  in  New  York  (1769)  before  the  mission- 
aries arrived."  Ashton  took  an  active  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  Embury's  little  charge,  and  removed  with  him  at  last  to 
Ashgrove,  (named  after  himself,)  in  Camden,  N.  Y.,  where  he 
was  the  first  member  and  chief  pillar  of  the  "  Ashgrove  Meth- 
odist Society,"  his  house  being  later  the  home  of  the  itinerants. 
He  left  a  legacy  of  three  acres  of  land  for  a  parsonage,  and  an 
annuity  to  the  end  of  time  for  the  oldest  unmarried  member 
of  the  New  York  Conference,  the  payment  of  which  still  re- 
minds the  preachers  annually  of  his  eccentric  Irish  liberality. 

Williams  immediately  began  bis  mission  in  Embury's  Chapel, 
and  thenceforward,  for  about  six  years,  was  one  of  the  most 
effective  pioneers  of  American  Methodism,  "  the  first  Meth- 
odist minister  in  America  that  published  a  book,  the  first  that 
married,  the  first  that  located,  and  the  first  that  died."  "We 
have  but  little  knowledge  of  his  career,  but  sufficient  to  show 
that  he  had  the  fire  and  heroism  of  the  original  itinerancy. 
He  was  stationed  at  John-street  Church  some  time  in  1771. 
He  labored  successfully  with  Strawbridge  in  founding  the  new 
cause  in  Baltimore  county.  In  the  first  published  Conference 
Minutes  he  is  appointed  to  Petersburg,  Ya.  "He  was  the 
apostle  of  Methodism  in  Virginia."  He  followed  Strawbridge 
in  founding  it  in  1772  on  the  Eastern  shore  of  Maryland.  In 
the  same  year  he  appeared  •>in  Norfolk,  Ya.  Taking  his  stand 
on  the  steps  of  the  Court-house,  he  collected  a  congregation  by 
singing  a  hymn,  and  then  preached  with  a  plainness  and  en- 
ergy so  novel  among  them  that  they  supposed  he  was  insane. 
No  one  invited  him  home,  in  a  community  noted  for  hospi- 
tality ;  they  were  afraid  of  his  supposed  lunacy :  but  on  hear- 
ing him  a  second  time  their  opinion  was  changed.  He  was 
received  to  their  houses,  and  soon  after  a  Society  was  formed 
in  the  city,  the  germ  of  the  denomination  in  the  state.  In 
1773  he  traveled  in  various  parts  of  Yirginia.  Jarrett,  an 
apostolic  Churchman,  and  afterward  a  notable  friend  of  the 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  49 

Methodists,  encouraged  his  labors,  and  entertained  him  a  week 
at  his  parsonage.  Williams  formed  the  first  circuit  of  Vir- 
ginia. A  signal  example  of  his  usefulness  (incalculable  in  its 
results)  was  the  conversion  of  Jesse  Lee.  He  was  "  the  spirit- 
ual father  "  of  this  heroic  itinerant,  the  founder  of  Methodism 
in  New  England.  "  Mr.  Lee's  parents  opened  their  doors  for 
him  to  preach.  They  were  converted.  Two  of  their  sons  be- 
came Methodist  ministers,  and  their  other  children  shared 
largely  in  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel,  which  he  proclaimed 
with  such  flaming  zeal,  holy  ardor,  and  great  success."  The 
religious  interest  excited  by  Williams's  labors  soon  extended 
into  North  Carolina,  and  opened  the  way  for  the  southward 
advancement  of  Methodism.  He  bore  back  to  Philadelphia, 
says  Asbury,  a  "flaming  account  of  the  work  in  Virginia — 
many  of  the  people  were  ripe  for  the  Gospel  and  ready  to  re- 
ceive us."  He  returned,  taking  with  him  a  young  man  named 
William  Watters,  who  was  thus  ushered  into  the  ministry, 
and  has  ever  since  been  honored  as  the  first  native  American 
itinerant.  Leaving  him  in  the  field  already  opened,  Williams 
went  himself  south-westward,  "  as  Providence  opened  the 
way."  Subsequently  he  bore  the  cross  into  North  Carolina. 
He  formed  a  six  weeks'  circuit  from  Petersburg  southward 
over  the  Koanoke  Eiver  some  distance  into  that  state,  and 
thus  became  the  "  apostle  of  Methodism  "  in  North  Carolina, 
as  well  as  Virginia.  Like  most  of  the  itinerants  of  that  day, 
he  located  after  his  marriage,  and  settled  between  Norfolk  and 
Suffolk,  where,  and  in  all  the  surrounding  regions,  he  con- 
tinued to  preach  till  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  26th  of 
September,  1775.  Asbury  was  now  in  the  country,  and  at 
hand  to  bury  the  zealous  pioneer.  He  preached  his  funeral 
sermon,  and  records  in  his  Journal  the  highest  possible  eulogy 
on  him.  uHe  has  been  a  very  useful,  laborious  man.  The 
Lord  gave  many  seals  to  his  ministry.  Perhaps  no  one  in 
America  has  been  an. instrument  of  awakening  so  many  souls 
as  God  has  awakened  by  him."  He  did  for  Methodism  in 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina  what  Embury  did  for  it  in  New 
York,  Webb  in  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  Delaware,  and 
Strawbridge  in  Maryland. 

4 


50        •  HISTORY   OF    THE 

Another  humble  English  Methodist  appeared  on  the  scene 
a  few  months  after  Williams's  arrival.  John  King's  name 
will  never  die  in  the  records  of  the  Church  in  the  Middle 
States.  He  came  from  London  to  America  in  the  latter  part 
of  1769.  He  first  appears  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  proclaimed 
humbly  but  courageously  his  first  message  in  the  humblest 
of  sanctuaries,  over  the  graves  of  the  poor,  in  the  Potter's 
Field,  and  thus  began  a  career  of  eminent  usefulness.  Thence 
we  trace  him  into  Maryland,  where  Strawbridge  greets  him 
with  hearty  welcome,  and  they  work  zealously  together  in 
Baltimore  county,  Robert  Williams  sharing  their  toils  and 
sufferings.  King  was  a  man  of  invincible  zeal.  "  It  was  the 
indomitable  King  who  first  threw  the  banners  of  Methodism 
to  the  people  of  Baltimore."  His  first  pulpit  there  was  a 
blacksmith's  block  at  the  intersection  of  Front  and  French 
streets.  His  next  sermon  was  from  a  table  at  the  junction  of 
Baltimore  and  Calvert  streets.  His  courage  was  tested  on  this 
occasion,  for  it  was  the  militia  training-day,  and  the  drunken 
crowd  charged  upon  him  so  effectually  as  to  upset  the  table 
and  lay  him  prostrate  on  the  earth.  He  knew,  however,  that 
the  noblest  preachers  of  Methodism  had  suffered  like  trials  in 
England,  and  he  maintained  his  ground  courageously.  The 
commander  of  the  troops,  an  Englishman,  recognized  him  as  a 
fellow-countryman,  and  defending  him,  restored  order,  and 
allowed  him  to  proceed.  Victorious  over  the  mob,  he  made 
so  favorable  an  impression  as  to  be  invited  to  preach  in  the 
English  Church  of  St.  Paul's,  but  improved  that  opportunity 
with  such  fervor  as  to  receive  no  repetition  of  the  courtesy. 
Methodism  had  now,  however,  entered  Baltimore — down  to. 
our  day  its  chief  citadel  In  the  New  World.  In  five  years 
after  King  stood  there  on  the  blacksmith's  block,  it  was 
strong  enough  to  entertain  the  Annual  Conference  of  the 
denomination. 

King  was  afterward  received  into  the  regular  itinerancy. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  first  Conference  of  1773,  and  was  ap- 
pointed to  New  Jersey.  He  soon  after  entered  Virginia,  and 
with  two  other  preachers  traveled  Robert  Williams's* new  six 
weeks'  circuit,  extending  from  Petersburg  into  North  Carolina. 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  51 

"They  were  blessed  among  the  people,  and  a  most  remark- 
able revival  of  religion  prevailed  in  most  of  the  circuit,"  says 
Lee,  the  contemporary  historian  of  the  Church.  Still  later  we 
trace  him  again  to  New  Jersey ;  he  located  during  the  Revolu- 
tion, but  in  1801  reappeared  in  the  itinerant  ranks  in  Vir- 
ginia.    He  located  finally  in  1803. 

John  King  did  valiant  service  in  our  early  struggles.  He 
seems,  however,  to  have  been  often  led  away  by  his  excessive 
ardor;  he  used  his  stentorian  voice  to  its  utmost  capacity,  and 
it  is  said  that  when  he  preached  in  St.  Paul's,  Baltimore,  he 
"made  the  dust  fly  from  the  old  velvet  cushion." 

Such  were  the  first  lay  evangelists,  the  founders  of  Meth- 
odism in  America,  Embury,  Webb,  Strawbridge,  Owen,  Will- 
iams, and  King.  In  the  year  in  which  the  last  two  arrived, 
Wesley  responded  to  the  appeal  of  the  New  York  society,  and 
his  first  two  regular  itinerants  appeared  in  the  New  World. 
Let  us  now  turn  to  them. 


52  HISTORY   OF   THE 


CHAPTER   V. 

WESLEY'S  FIKST   MISSIONAKIES  TO  AMERICA. 

Send  us  "an  able  and  experienced  Preacher,"  wrote  the  New 
York  Society  to  Wesley;  "we  importune  your  assistance;" 
"send  us  a  man  of  wisdom,  of  sound  faith,  a  good  disciplin- 
arian, whose  soul  and  heart  are  in  the  work ;"  and,  as  we  have 
seen,  they  call  unto  him  with  the  glowing  vision  of  "  a  flame 
kindled,  which  shall  never  stop  until  it  reaches  the  great  South 
Sea."  "Webb  wrote ;  Embury,  it  is  said,  wrote  ;  Thomas  Bell, 
a  humble  mechanic,  who  had  "wrought  six  days"  upon  their 
new  Chapel,  wrote.  Dr.  Wrangle,  a  good  Swedish  mission- 
ary, afterward  chaplain  to  his  king,  sent  out  by  his  govern- 
ment to  minister  to  its  emigrants  in  Philadelphia,  appealed  to 
Wesley  in  person  at  a  dinner-table,  on  his  way  home  through 
England.  The  zealous  and  catholic  doctor  had  been  prepar- 
ing the  way  for  Methodism  in  Philadelphia.  John  Hood  had 
been  converted  under  his  ministry  there ;  and  the  missionary 
had  recommended  him  to  the  friendship  of  Lambert  Wilmer, 
who  was  then  a  devoted  young  man  of  St.  Paul's  Church. 
The  two  youths  became  like  David  and  Jonathan,  and  after 
years  of  Christian  co-operation  they  mutually  requested  that 
they  might  rest  in  the  same  grave.  Their  Swedish  friend, 
obtaining  from  Wesley  the  promise  of  a  preacher,  wrote  back 
to  them  the  good  news,  and  advised  them  to  become  Meth- 
odists. They  accordingly  became  founders  of  the  new  Church 
in  Philadelphia,  where  their  names  are  still  venerated,  and 
where  they  now  sleep  in  one  tomb  under  the  Union  Methodist 
Church. 

In  Wesley's  "Minutes  of  Conference"  for  176 9  are  nine 
brief  lines  pregnant  with  volumes  of  history.  On  the  3d  of 
August,  in  the  Conference  at  Leeds,  he  said  from  the  chair, 
"  We  have   a  pressing  call  from  our  brethren  of  New  York 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  53 

(who  have  built  a  preaching  house)  to  come  over  and  help 
them.  Who  is  willing  to  go?  Richard  Boardman  and  Jo- 
seph Pilmoor.  What  can  we  do  further  in  token  of  our  broth- 
erly love?  Let  us  now  take  a  collection  among  ourselves. 
This  was  immediately  done,  and  out  of  it  £50  were  allotted 
toward  the  payment  of  their  debt,  and  about  £20  given  to  our 
brethren  for  their  passage." 

Richard  Boardman  was  now  about  thirty-one  years  of  age, 
vigorous  and  zealous.  He  had  preached  in  the  itinerancy 
about  six  years.  Wesley  pronounced  him  "  a  pious,  good- 
natured,  sensible  man,  greatly  beloved  of  all  that  knew  him." 
His  Irish  brethren,  when,  thirteen  years  later,  they  laid  him 
in  his  grave,  said  that  "  with  eloquence  divine  he  preached 
the  word,"  and  "  devils  trembled  when  for  Christ  he  fought." 

He  set  out  for  America  mourning  the  recent  loss  of  his  wife, 
but  courageous  for  his  new  career.  He  preached  as  he 
journeyed  toward  Bristol  to  embark.  In  the  Peak  of  Derby- 
shire he  stopped  for  the  night,  and  preached  on  Jabez, 
(1  Chron.  iv,  9,  10.)  A  young  lady  converted  under  this  dis- 
course became,  after  some  years,  the  mother  of  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  leaders  of  Wesleyan  Methodism,  and  gave 
him  a  name  from  the  memorable  text,  Jabez  Bunting. 

Boardman,  continuing  to  preach  on  his  route,  at  last  joined 
Pilmoor  at  Bristol,  to  embark  in  the  latter  part  of  August. 

Pilmoor  had  been  converted  in  his  sixteenth  year  through 
the  preaching  of  Wesley,  had  been  educated  at  Wesley's 
Kingswood  School,  and  had  now  itinerated  about  four  years, 
being  admitted  to  the  Conference  in  1765.  He  was  a  man  of 
good  courage,  commanding  presence,  much  executive  skill, 
and  ready  discourse.  The  two  evangelists  arrived  at  Glou- 
cester Point,  six  miles  south  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  24th  of 
October,  1769,  after  a  boisterous  passage  of  nine  weeks. 

The  Methodists  of  the  city  were  expecting  them,  Dr. 
Wrangle,  the  Swedish  missionary,  having  written  to  Hood 
and  Wilmer  of  their  appointment.  Captain  Webb  was  there 
to  receive  them.  They  immediately  began  their  mission,  Pil- 
moor opening  it  from  the  steps  of  the  old  State-house  on 
Chestnut-street.     Soon  afterward  he  was  preaching  from  the 


54  HISTORY   OF    THE 

platform  of  the  judges  of  the  race-course  on  the  Common,  now 
Franklin  Square,  Eace-street.  In  seven  days  after  reaching 
the  city  he  wrote  to  Wesley  that  he  "  was  not  a  little  surprised 
to  find  Captain  Webb  in  town,  and  a  society  of  about  one 
hundred  members.  This  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  marvel- 
ous in  our  eyes.  I  have  preached  several  times,  and  the  people 
flock  to  hear  in  multitudes.  Sunday  night  I  went  out  upon 
the  Common.  I  had  the  stage,  appointed  for  the  horse-race, 
for  my  pulpit,  and  I  think  between  four  and  five  thousand 
hearers,  who  heard  with  attention  still  as  night.  Blessed  be 
God  for  field-preaching!  There  seems  to  be  a  great  and 
effectual  door  opening  in  this  country,  and  I  hope  many  souls 
will  be  gathered  in."  Boardman,  who  acted  as  Wesley's 
"  assistant,"  or  "  superintendent,"  in  America,  preached  in  the 
city  "  to  a  great  number  of  people,"  and  quickly  departed  for 
]STew  York,  where  he  met  a  hearty  reception  and  began  his 
mission  in  John-street  Church. 

It  is  an  interesting  coincidence  that  while  Boardman  and 
Pilmoor  were  tossed  on  their  tempestuous  voyage,  Whitefield 
was  borne  through  the  same  storms  on  his  final  visit  to  Amer- 
ica, his  thirteenth  passage  over  the  Atlantic.  Arriving  at  his 
Orphan  house  in  Georgia,  his  seraphic  soul  seemed  to  receive 
a  presentiment  of  his  approaching  end,  and  to  anticipate  the 
joys  of  heaven.  "  I  am  happier,"  he  wrote,  "  than  words  can 
express — my  happiness  is  inconceivable."  He  started  to 
preach  northward,  and  on  the  evening  of  his  departure  re- 
corded the  prophetic  words,  "  This  will  prove  a  sacred  year  for 
me  at  the  day  of  judgment.  Halleluiah  !  Come,  Lord,  come  !  " 
"  Halleluiah  !  halleluiah  !  "  he  wrote  to  England ;  "  let  chapel, 
tabernacle,  heaven,  and  earth  resound  with  halleluiah !  I  can 
no  more ;  my  heart  is  too  big  to  speak  or  add  more !  " 

Arriving  in  Philadelphia,  he  hailed  Wesley's  itinerants  and 
"  gave  them  his  blessing :  it  has  never  failed  them."  His  soul 
had  always,  since  his  conversion,  glowed  with  a  divine  fire,  but 
it  now  seemed  to  kindle  into  flame.  No  edifices  could  contain 
his  congregations ;  he  preached  every  day.  He  made  a  tour 
of  five  hundred  miles  up  the  Hudson,  proclaiming  his  message 
at  Albany,  Schenectady,  Great  Barrington.     "  O  what  new 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  55 

scenes  of  usefulness  are  opening  in  various  parts  of  this 
world !  "  he  wrote  as  he  returned.  "  I  heard  afterward  that 
the  word  ran  and  was  glorified.  Grace !  grace ! "  He  had 
penetrated  nearly  to  the  north-western  frontiers.  He  saw  the 
gates  of  the  North-west  opening,  those  great  gates  through 
which  the  nations  have  since  been  passing,  as  in  grand  proces- 
sion, but  he  was  not  to  enter  there ;  the  everlasting  gates  were 
opening  for  him,  and  he  was  hastening  toward  them.  He 
passed  to  Boston,  to  Newburyport,  to  Portsmouth,  still  preach- 
ing daily.  Seized  with  illness,  he  turned  back ;  at  Exeter  he 
mounted  a  hogshead  and  preached  his  final  sermon  to  an  im- 
mense assembly.  His  emotions  carried  him  away,  and  he 
prolonged  his  discourse  through  two.  hours,  It  was  an  effort 
of  stupendous  eloquence — his  last  field  triumph — the  last  of 
that  series  of  mighty  sermons  which  had  been  resounding  like 
trumpet  blasts  for  thirty  years  over  England  and  America. 
He  hastened,  exhausted,  to  Newburyport ;  the  people  gathered 
about  his  lodging  in  throngs  to  see  and  hear  him  once  more ; 
they  pressed  into  the  entry  of  the  house.  Taking  a  candle,  he 
attempted  to  ascend  to  his  chamber,  but  pausing  on  the  stairs, 
he  addressed  them.  He  had  preached  his  last  sermon ;  this 
was  to  be  his  last  exhortation.  It  would  seem  that  some  pen- 
sive misgiving,  some  vague  presentiment,  touched  his  soul 
with  the  apprehension  that  the  moments  were  too  precious  to 
be  lost  in  rest.  He  lingered  on  the  stairway,  while  the  crowd 
gazed  up  at  him  with  tearful  eyes,  as  Elisha  at  the  ascending 
prophet.  His  voice,  never  perhaps  surpassed  in  its  music  and 
pathos,  flowed  on  until  the  candle,  which  he  held  in  his  hand, 
burned  away  and  went  out  in  its  socket.  The  next  morn- 
ing he  was  not,  for  God  had  taken  him. 

He  died  of  asthma  on  the  30th  of  September,  1770,  and 
sleeps  beneath  the  pulpit  of  the  Federal-street  Church,  New- 
buryport.  He  had  introduced  the  general  Methodistic  move- 
ment into  America,  and  had  finished  his  providential  work. 
The  great  cause  was  now  to  assume  an  organic  form. 

On  the  4th  of  November,  1769,  Boardman  wrote  to  Wesley : 
"  Our  house  contains  about  seventeen  hundred  people.  About 
a  third  part  of  those  who  attend  get  in,  the  rest  are  glad  to 


56  HISTORY    OF   THE 

hear  without.  There  appears  such  a  willingness  in  the  Amer- 
icans to  hear  the  word  as  I  never  saw  before.  They  have  no 
preaching  in  some  parts  of  the  back  settlements.  I  doubt  not 
but  an  effectual  door  will  be  opened  among  them.  O !  may 
the  Most  High  now  give  his  Son  the  heathen  for  his  inherit- 
ance. The  number  of  blacks  that  attend  the  preaching  affects 
me  much." 

Williams,  who  had  been  supplying  Wesley  Chapel,  gave  up 
the  charge  to  Boardman  and  went  southward,  joining  Straw- 
bridge  and  King,  and  extending  his  labors  into  Virginia,  as  we 
have  seen.  Embury,  relieved  of  further  responsibility  for  the 
Society,  formed  wTith  Ash  ton,  Bininger,  Switzer,  the  Hecks, 
and  others,  his  little  colony  for  Camden — the  founders  of  the 
Ashgrove  Church.  Boardman's  labors  were  immediately 
effective.  He  preached,  at  least,  four  sermons  weekly,  and 
"met  the  Society  on  Wednesday  night."  He  had  but  two 
leisure  evenings  a  week.  The  Church,  still  poor,  provided 
him  with  board  and  about  fifteen  dollars  a  quarter  for  cloth- 
ing. Among  the  first-fruits  of  his  labors  was  the  conversion 
of  John  Mann,  who  became  a  useful  preacher  and  supplied  the 
pulpit  at  John-street  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  when  the 
English  preachers  had  either  returned  home,  or  gone  into  retire- 
ment. He  also  became  one  of  the  founders  of  Methodism  in 
Nova  Scotia,  and  died  there,  in  the  peace  of  the  Gospel,  after 
nearly  half  a  century  of  faithful  service. 

After  spending  about  five  months  in  New  York,  Boardman 
exchanged  with  Pilmoor.  They  seem  to  have  alternated  be- 
tween the  two  cities  three  times  a  year,  in  the  spring,  summer, 
and  autumn ;  the  winter  term  being  five  months.  We  can 
dimly  trace  Boardman's  labors  in  New  York,  through  con- 
siderable intervals,  for  four  years  :  from  1769  to  1773  ;  during 
which  "his  ministry  was  blessed  to  hundreds."  In  April, 
1771,  he  wrote  to  Wesley  from  that  city :  "  It  pleases  God  to 
carry  on  his  work  among  us.  Within  this  month  we  have  had 
a  great  awakening  here.  Many  begin  to  believe  the  report ; 
and  to  some  the  arm  of  the  Lord  is  revealed."  He  was  equally 
successful  in  Philadelphia.  He  made  missionary  excursions 
into  Maryland,  and  preached  in  Baltimore.     We  have  intima- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  57 

tions  that  in  the  spring  of  1772  he  journeyed  to  the  north-east,, 
through  Providence,  as  far  as  Boston,  preaching  wherever  he 
found  opportunity,  and  forming  a  small  Society  in  the  latter 
city.  He  therefore  preceded  Lee  in  New  England  by  seven- 
teen years.  Pilmoor,  meanwhile,  was  abundant  in  labors  in 
Philadelphia  and  New  York.  He  wrote  to  Wesley  from  the 
former  city  that  "  there  seems  to  be  a  great  and  effectual  door 
opening  in  the  country.  Many  have  believed  the  report,  and 
unto  some  the  arm  of  the  Lord  has  been  revealed.  There 
begins  to  be  a  shaking  among  the  dry  bones,  and  they  come 
together  that  God  may  breathe  upon  them.  The  Society  here 
consists  of  about  a  hundred  members,  besides  probationers  ;  and 
I  trust  it  will  soon  increase  much  more  abundantly."  In  the 
summer  of  1770  he  went  to  Baltimore  and  other  parts  of  Mary- 
land, to  aid  Strawbridge,  Owen,  King,  and  "Williams.  He 
preached  in  that  city,  standing  on  the  sidewalk ;  and,  being  a 
man  of  commanding  appearance,  and  withal  an  able  and  con- 
vincing Preacher,  he  was  heard  with  much  interest.  The  next 
year  we  trace  him  again  to  New  York,  where  Williams 
labored  with  him.  They  made  an  excursion  to  New  Bochelle, 
where  they  found  a  little  company  gathered  for  worship,  at 
the  house  of  Frederick  Deveau.  A  clergyman  present  refused 
Pilmoor  the  privilege  of  addressing  the  meeting  ;  but  the  wife 
of  Deveau,  lying  sick  in  an  adjacent  room,  saw  him  through 
the  opened  door,  and  gave  him  a  mysterious  recognition. 
During  her  illness  she  had  had  much  trouble  of  mind ;  she  had 
dreamed  that  she  was  wandering  in  a  dismal  swamp,  without 
path,  or  light,  or  guide ;  when,  exhausted  with  fatigue  and 
about  to  sink  down  hopeless,  a  stranger  appeared  with  a  light 
and  led  her  out  of  the  miry  labyrinth.  At  the  first  glance  she 
now  identified  Pilmoor  with  the  apparition  of  her  dream,  and 
appealed  to  him,  from  her  sick  bed,  to  preach  to  her  and  the 
waiting  company.  He  did  so ;  and  while  "  he  was  offering  to 
all  a  present,  free,  full  salvation,"  the  invalid  was  converted, 
and  in  a  few  days  died  "  triumphant  in  the  Lord ! "  These 
singular  events  awakened  general  attention ;  Pilmoor  preached 
again  to  the  whole  neighborhood,  and  Methodism  was  effect- 
ively introduced  into  New  Kochelle,  where,  not  long  after,. 


58  HISTORY    OF   THE 

Asbury  was  to  form  the  third  Methodist  Society  of  the  state, 
after  those  of  John-street  and  Ashgrove.  The  beautiful  town 
became  the  favorite  resort  of  Asbury  and  his  compeers  for  oc- 
casional repose  from  their  travels,  though  not  from  their 
labors ;  the  fountain  whence  Methodism  spread  through  all 
Westchester  county;  its  easternmost  outpost,  whence  it,  at 
last,  invaded  New  England.  There  are  allusions  in  our  early 
records  to  several  expeditions  of  Pilmoor  to  the  South.  He 
preached  in  Norfolk,  traveled  through  the  southern  parts  of 
Yirginia  and  through  North  Carolina,  to  Charleston  in  South 
Carolina.  He  reached,  at  last,  Savannah,  Georgia,  and  made 
a  pilgrimage  to  Whitefield's  Orphan  house,  scattering  the  good 
seed  over  all  his  route.  He  spent  nearly  a  year  in  this 
excursion,  but  left  no  record  of  its  events.  It  is  said,  how- 
ever, that  he  had  many  hair-breadth  escapes  of  life  and  limb. 
He  encountered  the  violence  of  the  elements  and  of  perse- 
cutors. At  Charleston  he  could  obtain  no  place  for  preaching 
but  the  Theater,  where,  while  fervently  delivering  a  sermon, 
"  suddenly  the  table  used  by  him  for  a  pulpit,  with  the  chair 
he  occupied,  disappeared,"  descending  through  a  trap-door 
into  the  cellar.  Some  wags  of  the  "  baser  sort "  had  con- 
trived the  trick  as  a  practical  joke.  Nothing  discouraged, 
however,  the  preacher,  springing  upon  the  stage  with  the 
table  in  his  hands,  invited  the  audience  to  the  adjoining  yard, 
adding  pleasantly,  "  Come  on,  my  friends,  we  will,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  defeat  the  devil  this  time,  and  not  be  driven  by 
him  from  our  work,"  and  then  quietly  finished  his  discourse. 
The  fruits  of  his  Christian  labors  appeared  in  the  conversion 
of  many  souls.  Wherever  he  went  large  crowds  attended  his 
ministry,  and  listened  to  his  message. 

Other  messengers,  from  Wesley,  were  on  the  sea,  hastening 
to  the  help  of  these  laborers.  One  of  them  was  destined  to 
become  the  most  notable  character  in  the  ecclesiastical  history 
of  North  America,  and  was  soon  to  eclipse  all  his  predecessors 
in  that  great  scheme  of  itinerancy  which  was  to  extend  its  net- 
work of  evangelization  over  the  continent. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  ffl 


CHAPTER  VI. 

WESLEY'S    MISSIONARIES,    CONTINUED. 

The  name  of  "  America  "  appears,  in  1770,  for  the  first  time 
in  Wesley's  list  of  appointments.  Four  preachers  are  recorded 
as  composing  the  little  corps  of  its  Methodist  evangelists, 
Joseph  Pilmoor,  Eichard  Boardman,  Eobert  Williams,  and 
John  King.  In  the  minutes  of  the  next  year  America  appears 
for  the  first  time  in  the  list  of  returns  of  members  of  Society. 
It  reports  three  hundred  and  sixteen.  Captain  Webb  was 
still  abroad  laboring  in  the  middle  colonies,  and  was  appealing 
to  Wesley  for  more  preachers.  Pilmoor  and  Boardman  also 
wrote  to  him,  calling  for  recruits.  Their  reports  of  suc- 
cess, with  the  returns  of  more  than  three  hundred  members  in 
their  infant  Churches,  could  not  be  resisted  by  Wesley.  "  Our 
brethren  in  America  call  aloud  for  help,"  he  said  to  'the  Con- 
ference of  1771 ;  "  who  are  willing  to  go  over  and  help  them? " 
Five  responded,  and  two  were  appoiuted.  They  were  all  that 
could  be  spared  from  the  urgent  work  at  home,  supplied  as 
yet  by  but  about  a  hundred  and  twenty  effective  itinerants. 

One  of  them  was  a  young  man  who  was  the  only  son  of  an 
intelligent  peasant  of  the  Parish  of  Handsworth,  Staffordshire, 
and  of  a  pious  mother  who  trained  him  with  religious  care. 
He  never  "  dared  an  oath  or  hazarded  a  lie."  His  youthful 
associates  were  addicted  to  the  usual  vices  of  their  age,  but  he 
"  often  retired  from  their  society  uneasy  and  melancholy." 
He  could  read  the  Bible  when  but  seven  years  of  age,  and 
"greatly  delighted  in  its  historical  parts."  "God,"  he  says, 
"  sent  a  pious  man,  not  a  Methodist,  into  our  neighborhood, 
and  my  mother  invited  him  to  our  house.  By  his  conversation 
and  prayers  I  was  awakened  before  I  was  fourteen  years  of 
age.  I  began  to  pray  morning  and  evening,  being  drawn  by 
the  cords  of  love  as  with  the  bands  of  a  man."     "  I  then  held 


60  HISTORY   OF    THE 

meetings  frequently  at  my  father's  house,  exhorting  the 
people  there,  as  also  at  Sutton  Cold  field,  and  several  souls 
professed  to  find  peace  through  my  labors.  I  met  in  Class 
a  while  at  Bromwich-Heath,  and  met  in  Band  at  Wednesbury. 
I  had  preached  some  months  before  I  publicly  appeared  in  the 
Methodist  meeting-houses,  when  my  labors  became  more  public 
and  extensive ;  some  were  amazed,  not  knowing  how  I  had 
exercised  elsewhere.  Behold  me  now  a  Local  Preacher,  the 
humble  and  willing  servant  of  any  and  of  every  preacher  that 
called  on  me  by  night  or  by  day  ;  being  ready,  with  hasty 
steps,  to  go  far  and  wide  to  do  good,  visiting  Derbyshire,  Staf- 
fordshire, Warwickshire,  Worcestershire,  and  indeed  almost 
every  place  within  my  reach,  for  the  sake  of  precious  souls ; 
preaching,  generally,  three,  four,  and  five  times  a  week,  and 
at  the  same  time  pursuing  my  calling.  I  think,  when  I  was 
between  twenty-one  and  twenty-two  years  of  age  I  gave  my- 
self up  to  God  and  his  work  after  acting  as  a  Local  Preacher 
nearly  jive  years." 

He  was  only  about  seventeen  years  old  when  he  began  to 
hold  public  meetings,  not  eighteen  when  he  began  to  preach, 
and  about  twenty-one  when  he  started  out  as  an  itinerant, 
supplying  the  place  of  an  absent  traveling  preacher,  though 
not  yet  received  by  the  Annual  Conference.  When  appointed 
by  Wesley  to  America  he  was  about  twenty-six  years  of  age. 
He  had  been  in  the  traveling  ministry  only  about  five  years, 
and  but  four  years  on  the  catalogue  of  regular  appointments, 
but  had  seen  hard  service  on  Bedfordshire,  Colchester,  and 
Wiltshire  circuits.  He  was  studious,  somewhat  introspective, 
with  a  thoughtfulness  which  was  tinged  at  times  with  melan- 
choly. His  was  one  of  those  minds  which  can  find  rest  only 
in  labor;  designed  for  great  work,  and  therefore  endowed  with 
a  restless  instinct  for  it.  He  was  an  incessant  preacher,  of 
singular  practical  directness ;  was  ever  in  motion,  on  foot  or 
on  horseback,  over  his  long  circuits ;  a  rigorous  disciplinarian, 
disposed  to  do  everything  by  method ;  a  man  of  few  words, 
and  those  always  to  the  point ;  of  quick  and  marvelous  insight 
into  character ;  of  a  sobriety,  not  to  say  severity,  of  temper- 
ament, which  might  have  been  repulsive  had  it  not  been  soft- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  61 

ened  by  a  profound  religious  humility ;  for  his  soul,  ever  aspir- 
ing to  the  highest  virtue,  was  ever  complaining  within  itself 
over  its  shortcomings.  His  mind  had  eminently  a  military 
cast.  He  never  lost  his  self-possession,  and  could  therefore 
seldom  be  surprised.  He  seemed  not  to  know  fear,  and  never 
yielded  to  discouragement  in  a  course  sanctioned  by  his  faith 
or  conscience.  He  could  plan  sagaciously,  seldom  pausing  to 
consider  theories  of  wisdom  or  policy,  but  as  seldom  failing 
in  practical  prudence.  The  rigor  which  his  disciplinary  pre- 
dilections imposed  upon  others  was  so  exemplified  by  himself, 
that  his  associates  or  subordinates,  instead  of  revolting  from  it, 
accepted  it  as  a  challenge  of  heroic  emulation.  Discerning 
men  could  not  come  into  his  presence  without  perceiving  that 
his  soul  was  essentially  heroic,  and  that  nothing  committed  to  his 
agency  could  fail,  if  it  depended  upon  conscientiousness,  pru- 
dence, courage,  labor,  and  persistence.  "  Who,"  says  one  who 
knew  him  intimately,  "  who  of  us  could  be  in  his  company 
without  feeling  impressed  with  a  reverential  awe  and  profound 
respect  %  It  was  almost  impossible  to  approach  him  without 
feeling  the  strong  influence  of  his  spirit  and  presence.  There 
was  something  in  this  remarkable  fact  almost  inexplicable  and 
indescribable.  It  appeared  as  though  the  very  atmosphere  in 
which  he  moved  gave  unusual  sensations  of  diffidence  and 
humble  restraint  to  the  boldest  confidence  of  man."  Withal 
his  appearance  was  in  his  favor.  In  his  most  familiar  portrait 
he  has  the  war-worn  aspect  of  a  military  veteran,  but  in  earlier 
life  his  frame  was  robust,  his  countenance  full,  fresh,  and  ex 
pressive  of  generous  if  not  refined  feelings.  He  was  some 
what  attentive  to  his  apparel,  and  always  maintained  an  easy 
dignity  of  manners,  which  commanded  the  respect  if  not  the 
affection  of  his  associates.  The  appeals  from  the  American 
Methodists  had  reached  him  in  his  rural  circuits,  for  he  had 
never  left  his  ministerial  work  to  attend  the  Annual  Confer- 
ence. Two  months  before  the  session  of  1771  his  mind  had 
been  impressed  with  the  thought  that  America  was  his  destined 
field  of  labor.  He  saw  in  the  New  World  a  befitting  sphere 
for  his  apostolic  aspirations. 

Such  was   Francis  Asbury.     These  great   qualities,  made 


62  HISTORY    OF    THE 

manifest  in  his  subsequent  career,  were  inherent  in  the  man, 
and  Wesley  could  not  fail  to  perceive  them.  He  not  only 
accepted  him  for  America,  but,  notwithstanding  his  youth, 
appointed  him,  at  the  ensuing  conference,  at  the  head  of  the 
American  ministerial  itinerancy. 

Receiving  his  appointment,  he  returned  from  the  conference 
at  Bristol  to  take  leave  of  his  friends.  He  arrived  at  last  at 
Bristol  to  embark,  but  without  a  penny  for  his  expenses. 
"  Yet,"  he  writes,  "  the  Lord  soon  opened  the  hearts  of  friends, 
who  supplied  me  with  clothes  and  ten  pounds :  thus  I  found, 
by  experience,  that  he  will  provide  for  those  who  trust  in  him." 
The  ship  sailed  on  the  4th  of  September.  He  had  but  two 
blankets  for  his  bed,  and  slept  with  them  on  the  hard  boards 
during  the  voyage.  "I  want,"  he  writes,  "faith,  courage, 
patience,  meekness,  love.  I  feel  my  spirit  bound  to  the  New 
World,  and  my  heart  united  to  the  people,  though  unknown, 
and  have  great  cause  to  believe  that  I  am  not  running  before 
I  am  sent." 

His  companion,  Richard  Wright,  had  traveled  but  one  year 
in  England  when  he  set  out  on  his  voyage  to  America.  We 
know  but  little  of  his  history ;  scarcely  more,  indeed,  than  that 
he  accompanied  Asbury ;  that  he  spent  most  of  his  time,  while 
here,  in  Maryland  and  Virginia,  and  a  part  of  it,  in  the  spring 
of  1772,  in  New  York  city ;  that  in  the  early  part  of  1773  he 
was  again  in  Virginia,  laboring  in  Norfolk ;  and  that  in  1774 
he  returned  to  England,  where,  after  three  years  spent  in  the 
itinerancy,  he  ceased  to  travel,  and  totally  disappeared  from 
the  published  records  of  the  denomination. 

After  a  voyage  of  more  than  fifty  days  they  reached  Phila- 
delphia, "  and,"  says  Asbury,  "  were  brought  in  the  evening  to 
a  large  church,  where  we  met  with  a  considerable  congrega- 
tion. Mr.  Pilmoor  preached.  The  people  looked  on  us  with 
pleasure,  hardly  knowing  how  to  show  their  love  sufficiently, 
bidding  us  welcome  with  fervent  affection,  and  receiving  us  as 
angels  of  God."  There  were  now  probably  about  six  hundred 
Methodists  in  the  colonies,  and  at  least  ten  preachers,  (includ- 
ing Embury,  Webb,  Williams,  King,  and  Owen,)  besides  Wes- 
ley's missionaries.      The  "  large  church  "  in  which  Asbury 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    OHUKCH.  63 

heard  Pilmoor  preach  on  the  evening  of  his  arrival  was  St. 
George's,  still  standing,  and  revered  as  the  "  Old  Cathedral " 
of  Methodism  in  Philadelphia.  It  had  been  built  by  a  Ger- 
man Keformed  Society,  but  its  projectors  failed,  and  sold  it  in 
1770  to  Miles  Pennington,  one  of  the  first  members  of  the 
first  class,  of  seven  persons,  formed  in  the  city  by  Captain 
Webb  in  1768.  It  was  probably  at  the  instance  of  Webb 
that  Pennington  obtained  it,  for  the  veteran  soldier  knew  the 
value  of  fortified  fields.  He  gave  liberally  from  his  own  funds 
toward  it.  The  same  year  it  was  conveyed  to  the  captain  and 
others  as  trustees  of  the  Methodist  Society.  For  a  long  time 
it  was  unfinished  and  unfurnished,  only  half  floored  with 
rough  boards,  its  pulpit  a  rude  square  box  on  the  north  side. 
The  house  was  not  plastered  till  Dr.  Coke  came  to  America, 
and  the  Methodists  were  organized  into  a  Church.  There  was 
no  church  in  the  connection  that  Asbury  labored  as  much 
for  as  St.  George's.  It  was  for  nearly  fifty  years  the  largest 
place  of  worship  that  the  Methodists  had  in  America.  It  was 
their  cathedral.  Such  was  the  first  of  that  series  of  Methodist 
chapels  in  Philadelphia,  which  has  ever  since  grown  more 
rapidly  than  the  chapel  provisions  of  any  other  denomination 
in  the  city,  orthodox  or  heterodox,  and  amounts  in  our  day  to 
seventy-two  places  of  worship,  more  than  one  sixth  of  all  the 
city  churches. 

Having  refreshed  themselves  among  these  fervent  brethren, 
the  missionaries  took  their  departure  for  new  fields ;  Asbury 
to  the  North,  Wright  to  the  South. 

Asbury  arrived  in  New  York  on  the  12th  of  November. 
"  Now,"  he  wrote  as  he  entered  it,  "  Now  I  must  apply  my- 
self to  my  old  work— to  watch,  and  fight,  and  pray.  Lord, 
help."  Boardman,  "  a  worthy,  loving  man,"  welcomed  him. 
He  opened  his  commission  the  next  day  with  a  characteristic 
sermon  on  the  text,  "  I  am  determined  to  know  nothing  among 
you  save  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified."  He  could  not  be 
content,  however,  with  stationary  labors.  He  had  always, 
since  the  commencement  of  his  ministry,  been  an  itinerant, 
and  he  must  always  continue  such.  Boardman  and  Pilmoor 
confined  themselves  mostly  to  the  cities  of  Philadelphia  and 


64  HISTORY    OF    THE 

New  York.  In  about  a  week  after  reaching  New  York  As- 
bury writes  :  "  I  have  not  yet  the  thing  whicli  I  seek — a  circu- 
lation of  preachers.  I  am  fixed  to  the  Methodist  plan  ;  I  am 
willing  to  suffer,  yea,  to  die,  sooner  than  betray  so  good  a 
cause  by  any  means."  Supremely  important  was  this  disposi- 
tion. Wesley  had  rightly  estimated  his  man  when  he  com 
missioned  Asbury  for  the  Western  world.  For  however  expe- 
dient modifications  of  the  itinerancy  might  become  in  the 
maturity  of  the  denomination,  it  was  now  the  great  necessity 
of  the  country  and  the  special  work  of  Methodism  in  it.  But 
there  was  already  spreading  among  the  young  Societies  a  dis- 
position to  localize  their  few  pastors.  Many  of  the  oldest 
itinerants,  during  the  remainder  of  the  century,  favored  this 
tendency,  and  ceased  to  travel.  The  Church  and  the  nation 
owe  the  maintenance  of  the  itinerancy,  with  its  incalculable 
blessings,  chiefly  to  the  invincible  energy  of  Francis  Asbury. 
"  At  present,"  he  writes,  "  I  am  dissatisfied.  I  judge  we  are 
to  be  shut  up  in  the  cities  this  winter.  My  brethren  seem 
unwilling  to  leave  the  cities,  but  I  think  I  shall  show  them 
the  way.  I  am  in  trouble,  and  more  trouble  is  at  hand,  for  I 
am  determined  to  make  a  stand  against  all  partiality."  It 
was  soon  seen  that  he  was  not  to  be  shaken  in  his  purpose. 
There  must  be  a  winter  campaign,  and  henceforth,  while  he 
lived,  no  cantonments,  no  winter-quarters.  In  a  short  time 
he  had  formed  an  extemporary  circuit  in  the  country  around 
the  city,  including  Westchester  County  and  Staten  Island. 
He  continued  thus  to  travel  till  the  latter  part  of  March,  1772, 
when  he  again  passed  over  the  scenes  of  Webb's  labors  in 
New  Jersey,  preaching  almost  daily  till  he  arrived  in  Phila- 
delphia, where  he  was  refreshed  by  meeting  Webb  and  Board- 
man.  The  latter,  as  Superintendent,  sketched  a  plan  of  labor 
for  some  ensuing  months.  Boardman,  himself,  was  to  go  east- 
ward on  his  visit  to  Boston,  Pilmoor  to  Virginia,  Wright  to 
New  York,  and  Asbury  was  to  stay  three  months  in  and 
about  Philadelphia.  They  pursued  this  course  energetically. 
In  July,  1772,  Boardman  renewed  his  Plan  of  Appointments, 
taking  charge  himself  of  Philadelphia,  with  excursions  to  Del- 
aware and  Maryland ;  sending  Asbury  again  to  New  York ; 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    OHUKOII.  65 

"Wright  to  Maryland,  to  assist  Strawbridge,  King,  and  Will- 
iams ;  and  Pilmoor  to  Yirginia.  Such  are  the  sparse  details 
we  can  glean  of  the  early  itinerancy ;  limited  almost  to  meager 
names  and  dates,  and  yet  signifying  much.  Asbury  was  evi- 
dently giving  propulsion  to  the  work.  In  his  unintermitted 
excursions  he  was  waking  up  preachers,  societies,  and  the  pop- 
ulation generally.  He  preached  mostly  in  private  houses, 
sometimes  in  court-houses,  less  frequently  in  churches,  some- 
times in  the  woods,  at  others  in  prisons,  especially  where  there 
were  culprits  condemned  to  death;  and  that  was  a  day  of 
much  hanging.  Sometimes  he  mounted  a  wagon  at  the  gal- 
lows, impressing  with  awe  the  hardened  multitude.  Thus 
was  he  "  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season."  His  sermons 
were  now,  frequently,  two  or  three  a  day ;  yet  he  exclaims, 
"  How  is  my  soul  troubled  that  I  am  not  more  devoted !  O 
my  God,  my  soul  groans  and  longs  for  this !  "  "  My  way  is  to 
go  straight  forward !  "  "  Hitherto  the  Lord  hath  helped  me  !  " 
"  I  want  to  breathe  after  the  Lord  in  every  breath."  Such 
are  the  ejaculations  that  almost  continually  break  from 
his  ardent  soul  in  these  unceasing  labors.  His  remarkable 
subsequent  career,  the  "giants  of  those  days"  who  rose  up  in. 
all  parts  of  the  itinerant  field,  and  the  great  outspread  of  Meth- 
odism over  the  continent,  have  much  of  their  explanation  in 
these  early  indications  of  the  great  man  who  had  thus  suddenly 
appeared  in  the  arena. 

It  was  under  the  impulse  of  Asbury's  example  that  Robert 
Williams  now  went  to  Yirginia  and  preached  on  the  steps  of 
the  Norfolk  Court-House,  and  that  Pilmoor  went  preaching 
southward  as  far  as  Savannah. 

In  the  autumn  of  1772  Asbury  was  again  laboring  in  and 
all  around  New  York.  He  there  received  a  letter  from  Wes- 
ley appointing  him  "Assistant"  or  Superintendent  of  the 
American  Societies,  though  he  was  yet  but  about  twenty- 
seven  years  of  age.  He  thus  took  charge  of  all  the  Churches 
and  the  appointments  of  the  Preachers,  subject  to  the  au- 
thority of  Wesley.  He  now  turned  southward,  scattering 
the  good  seed  as  he  went,  and  inspiriting  the   Societies  and 

Preachers.     He  preached  sometimes  as  early  as  five  o'clock 

5 


66  HISTORY    OF   THE 

in  the  morning.  He  passes  on  rapidly  through  Philadelphia 
and  Delaware,  and  in  Maryland  finds  the  cause  spreading  in 
all  directions.  He  reaches  the  house  of  Henry  Watters, 
"  whose  brother  is  an  exhorter,  and  now  gone  with  Mr.  Will- 
iams to  Virginia."  Young  Watters  we  shall  soon  meet,  and 
find  him  sustaining  worthily  his  distinction  as  the  first  native 
Methodist  Itinerant  of  America.  Asbury  preached  at  the 
house  of  "  friend  Gatch,"  another  name  which  was  to  become 
conspicuous  in  the  early  history  of  the  Church.  We  trace  him 
further  to  the  home  of  Richard  Owen,  the  first  native  Local 
Preacher,  "  where  the  Lord  enabled "  him  "  to  preach  with 
much  feeling  to  a  great  number  of  people ;"  and  to  the  Sam's 
Creek  "Log  Meeting-house"  of  Strawbridge.  He  entered 
Baltimore  and  preached  there,  but  was  soon  away  again,  has- 
tening from  town  to  town.  At  last  he  "came  to  his  Quar- 
terly Conference  at  J.  Presbury's,  in  Christmas  week,  1772." 
There  had  been  no  Annual  Conference  yet  in  America,  and 
this  was  the  first  Quarterly  Conference  of  which  we  have  any 
account.  Asbury  says,  "  Many  people  attended,  and  several 
friends  came  miles."  By  this  time  ten  or  twelve  native  Local 
Preachers  and  Exhorters  had  been  licensed  in  Maryland,  such 
as  Richard  Owen,  William  Watters,  Richard  Webster,  Na- 
than Perigau,  Isaac  Rollins,  Hezekiah  Bonham,  Nicholas 
Watters,  Sater  Stephenson,  J.  Presbury,  Philip  Gatch,  and, 
probably,  Aquila  Standford  and  Abraham  Rollins. 

Asbury  began  the  new  year,  1773,  at  Baltimore,  as  his 
head-quarters.  A  local  authority  says  :  "  The  happiest  event 
which  could  have  occurred  to  Methodism  in  Baltimore,  as 
well  as  to  the  cause  of  religion  generally,  was  the  arrival  of 
Asbury  in  the  fall  of  1772,  when  he  preached  for  the  first 
time,  in  the  morning  at  the  Point,  and  in  town  at  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening. 
Down  to  this  period  there  had  been  no  disposition  shown,  on 
the  part  of  the  people,  to  open  their  houses  for  Methodist 
preaching,  or  to  extend  to  the  Preachers  those  hospitalities 
which  are  now  so  characteristic  of  the  city.  But  it  was  far 
otherwise  in  1772 :  the  good  seed  which  had  been  sown  by 
Strawbridge,  Williams,  and  others,  in  the  surrounding  coun- 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHUKOH.  67 

try,  had  been  productive ;  while  that  scattered  by  King,  Pil- 
moor,  and  Boardrnan  was  beginning  to  spring  up  in  Baltimore, 
so  that  Asbury  found  a  people  prepared  to  his  hands.  A  sail- 
loft,  at  the  corner  of  Mills  and  Block  streets,  was  provided  free 
of  charge,  and  was  soon  filled  to  overflowing,  many  coming 
from  the  country  a  distance  of  six  miles  before  some  of  the 
people  of  the  town  had  risen  from  their  beds.  Something 
like  a  permanent  arrangement  being  made  for  perpetuating 
Methodism  in  Baltimore,  Asbury  set  about  in  good  earnest  to 
regulate  the  Societies  by  settling,  as  he  says,  the  classes,  and 
thereby  giving  to  Methodism  that  form  and  consistency  which 
it  had  in  England ;  and  no  man  knew  better  how  to  do  this 
than  he  did.  On  the  3d  of  January,  1773,  he  says,  after 
meeting  the  Society,  '  I  settled  a  class  of  men,'  and  on  the 
following  evening,  after  preaching  with  comfort,  *  I  formed  a 
class  of  women.'  The  formation  of  these  two  classes,  and  the 
addition  of  others  soon  after,  together  with  the  difficulty  of 
finding  room  for  those  who  were  willing  to  hear  the  word  of 
God  preached,  made  it  necessary  to  provide  other  than  mere 
private  accommodation  ;  and,  accordingly,  in  November  fol- 
lowing, Asbury,  assisted  by  Jesse  Hollingsworth,  George 
Wells,  Eichard  Moale,  George  Eobinson,  and  John  Wood- 
ward, purchased  the  lot,  sixty  feet  on  Strawberry  Alley  and 
seventy-five  feet  on  Fleet-street,  for  a  house  of  worship,  where 
the  church  now  stands — the  only  original  edifice  of  the  kind, 
of  our  religious  denomination,  in  Baltimore.  The  following 
year  William  Moore  and  Philip  Eogers  took  up  two  lots,  and 
erected  a  church  in  Lovely  Lane;  Moore  collecting  £100  to 
assist  in  paying  for  it.  Which  of  these  two  churches  was  first 
finished  is  not  quite  certain;  tradition  says  the  latter.  The 
one  in  Strawberry  Alley  was  commenced  in  November,  1773 ; 
that  in  Lovely  Lane  the  18th  of  April,  1774.  Captain  Webb, 
in  writing  to  Asbury,  then  in  New  York,  said  that  the  church 
in  Lovely  Lane  was  so  far  finished  by  the  middle  of  October 
that  he  preached  in  it." 

The  first  Methodist  chapel  in  Baltimore,  that  of  Strawberry 
Alley,  was  on  Fell's  Point,  where  an  hospitable  Irishman, 
Captain  Patten,  had  been  the  first  citizen  to  open  his  house 


68  HISTORY    OF   THE 

for  the  preaching  of  Asbury  ;  thereby  adding  another  instance 
to  the  extraordinary  services  of  his  countrymen  in  the  early 
history  of  the  denomination.  It  was  built  of  brick,  forty-one 
feet  and  six  inches  in  length  and  thirty  feet  in  width.  The 
pulpit  was  in  the  old  style,  tub  fashion,  and  very  high ;  while 
over  the  Preacher's  head  hung,  suspended  by  a  cord,  the  in- 
evitable sounding-board.  Back  of  the  pulpit  there  was  a  semi- 
circle of  blue  ground,  on  which  was  emblazoned  in  large  gilt 
letters  the  motto,  "  Thou,  God,  seest  me."  In  1801,  when  the 
Milk-street  Church  was  built,  the  Strawberry  Alley  Church 
was  given  to  the  colored  people  for  their  exclusive  use  and 
benefit. 

Such  was  the  beginning  of  that  series  of  Methodist  chapels 
in  Baltimore  which  has  since  increased  so  rapidly,  that,  in 
our  day,  they  are  more  than  double  the  number  of  those  of 
any  other  communion,  Protestant  or  Papal,  in  the  city,  and 
nearly  a  third  of  all  its  churches,  though  it  has  a  larger  supply 
of  such  edifices,  in  proportion  to  its  population,  than  any  other 
city  on  the  continent. 

Asbury's  circuit,  projecting  from  Baltimore,  extended  about 
two  hundred  miles ;  he  traveled  over  it  every  three  weeks.  It 
comprised  about  twenty-four  appointments ;  he  moved  among 
them  continually,  assisted  by  King,  Strawbridge,  Owen,  and 
other  preachers  and  exhorters. 

Meanwhile  Captain  "Webb  had  gone  to  England  to  appeal 
again  to  Wesley  for  help,  and  was  now  returning  on  the  ocean 
with  his  recruits.  Wesley  wrote,  in  1772,  to  a  friend  in  Ire- 
land, "  Captain  Webb  is  now  in  Dublin :  he  is  a  man  of  fire, 
and  the  power  of  God  constantly  attends  his  word."  He  was 
the  right  man  to  appeal  to  British  Methodism  for  America,  for 
he  could  tell  his  own  story  about  it,  and  his  military  ardor 
gave  a  singular  inspiration  to  his  words.  He  went  to  the  Con- 
ference, which  began  on  August  4, 1772,  at  Leeds,  and  he  there 
addressed  the  preachers  with  an  eloquence  that  kindled  the 
assembly  into  enthusiasm.  George  Shadford  heard  him,  and 
says,  "  When  he  warmly  exhorted  preachers  to  go  to  America 
I  felt  my  spirit  stirred  within  me  to  go  ;  more  especially  when 
I  understood  that  many  hundreds  of  precious  souls  were  per- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  69 

ishing  through  lack  of  knowledge,  scattered  up  and  down  in 
various  parts  of  the  country,  and  had  none  to  warn  them  of 
their  danger.  Mr.  Rankin  and  I  offered  ourselves  to  go  the 
spring  following." 

Thomas  Rankin  was  one  of  the  commanding  men  of  the 
Wesleyan  ministry.  Wesley  appointed  him  at  once  General 
Assistant  or  Superintendent  of  the  American  Societies,  for  he 
was  not  only  Asbury's  senior  in  the  itinerancy,  but  was  an 
experienced  disciplinarian.  Asbury  had  probably  asked  to  be 
relieved  by  such  a  successor,  and  welcomed  him  with  sincere 
gratification.  He  was  a  clear-headed  and  honest-hearted 
Scotchman  ;  trained  in  his  infancy  to  strict  religious  habits. 
"  I  bless  God,"  he  says,  "  that  I  was  mercifully  preserved  from 
open  wickedness.  I  do  not  know  that  ever  I  swore  an  oath 
in  my  life."  Whitefield,  flying  over  the  realm,  came  across 
his  path  at  Edinburgh.  "I  heard  him,"  writes  Rankin,  a  with 
wonder  and  surprise,  and  had  such  a  discovery  of  the  plan  of 
salvation  as  I  had  never  known  before.  I  remembered  more 
of  that  sermon  than  of  all  the  sermons  I  ever  had  heard.  From 
this  time  I  was  truly  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  a  change 
of  heart.  I  began  to  wrestle  with  God  in  an  agony  of 
prayer.  I  called  out,  '  Lord,  I  have  wrestled  long,  and  have 
not  yet  prevailed  :  O  let  me  now  prevail ! '  The  whole  passage 
of  Jacob's  wrestling  with  the  angel  came  into  my  mind ;  and 
I  called  out  aloud,  '  I  will  not  let  thee  go  unless  thou  bless 
me  ! '  In  a  moment  the  cloud  burst,  and  tears  of  love  flowed 
from  my  eyes,  when  these  words  were  applied  to  my  soul 
many  times  over,  <  And  he  blessed  him  there.'  They  came 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  much  assurance ;  and  my 
whole  soul  was  overwhelmed  in  the  presence  of  God.  I  could 
declare  that  the  Son  of  man  still  had  power  on  earth  to  for- 
give sins,  and  that  he  had  pardoned  my  sins,  even  mine.' " 
It  was  not  long  before  he  was  laboring  as  a  local  preacher. 
Wesley  called  him  into  the  itinerancy  in  1761. 

George  Shadford,  like  Rankin,  had  a  somewhat  strict  early 
religious  training,  but  was  ebullient  with  the  spirits  of  health- 
ful childhood,  and  having  a  conscience  more  tender  but  less 
strong  than  that  of  Rankin,  he  was  continually  indulging  in 


70  HISTORY   OF   THE 

pranks  of  childish  mischief,  and  as  continually  repenting  of 
them  as  guilty  and  perilous  to  his  soul.  "  When  I  was  very 
young,"  he  says,  "  I  was  uncommonly  afraid  of  death.  As  I 
grew  up  I  was  very  prone  to  speak  bad  words,  and  often  to 
perform  wicked  actions ;  to  break  the  Sabbath,  and,  being 
fond  of  play,  took  every  opportunity  on  Sunday  to  steal  away 
from  my  father.  At  fourteen  years  of  age  my  parents  sent 
me  to  the  bishop  to  be  confirmed,  and  at  sixteen  they  desired 
me  to  prepare  to  receive  the  blessed  sacrament.  For  about  a 
month  before  it  I  retired  from  all  vain  company,  prayed,  and 
read  alone,  while  the  Spirit  of  God  sent  home  what  I  read  to 
my  heart.  I  wept  much  in  secret,  was  ashamed  of  my  past 
life,  and  thought  I  would  never  spend  my  time  on  Sundays  as 
I  had  done.  But  I  had  not  a  single  companion  that  feared 
God.  Nay,  I  believe  at  that  time  the  whole  town  was 
covered  with  darkness,  and  sat  in  the  shadow  of  death.  I 
gave  way  to  Satan,  and,  by  little  and  little,  lost  all  my  good 
desires  and  resolutions,  and  soon  became  weak  as  in  times  past. 
I  was  fond  of  wrestling,  running,  leaping,  football,  dancing, 
and  such  like  sports;  and  I  gloried  in  them  because  I  could 
excel  most  in  the  town  and  parish.  At  the  age  of  twenty 
I  was  so  active  that  I  seemed  a  compound  of  life  and  fire,  and 
had  such  a  flow  of  animal  spirits  that  I  was  never  in  my 
element  but  when  employed  in  such  kind  of  sports."  He 
turned  soldier,  and  was  tossed  about  the  country  in  the 
army,  tempted  by  the  vices  of  his  comrades,  but  escaping  most 
of  them,  and  repenting  with  tears  when  overcome.  At  Gains- 
borough he  went  with  a  sergeant  to  hear  a  Methodist  preach 
in  a  hall.  He  was  exceedingly  entertained  and  surprised  at 
the  services,  and  deeply  smitten  in  his  conscience  by  the  dis- 
course. "  In  Kent,"  he  says,  "  the  Lord  arrested  me  again 
with  strong  convictions,  so  that  I  was  obliged  to  leave  my 
comrades  at  noonday,  and,  running  up  into  my  chamber,  I 
threw  myself  upon  my  knees  and  wept  bitterly.  I  thought, 
'  sin,  cursed  sin,  will  be  my  ruin !  *  I  was  ready  to  tear  the 
hair  from  my  head,  thinking  I  must  perish  at  last,  and  that 
my  sins  would  sink  me  lower  than  the  grave."  "  Wherever 
I  traveled  I  found  the  Methodists  were  spoken  against  by 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  71 

wicked  and  ungodly  persons  of  every  denomination ;  but  the 
more  I  looked  into  the  Bible  the  more  I  was  convinced  that 
they  were  the  people  of  God." 

On  his  release  from  the  militia  service  he  returned  home, 
musing  much  about  this  "  sect  everywhere  spoken  against." 
A  Methodist  farmer  moved  into  the  neighborhood,  and  opened 
his  house  for  preaching.  Shadford  could  not  stay  away.  "  I 
was  now  determined,"  he  says,  "  to  seek  God,  and  therefore  I 
went  constantly  to  church  and  sacrament,  and  to  hear  the 
Methodist  preachers,  to  pray,  and  read  the  Scriptures.  I 
thought, '  I  will  be  good.  I  am  determined  to  be  good.'  "  At 
last,  while  hearing  an  Itinerant  in  the  cottage,  "  I  cried  out," 
he  says,  "  being  pierced  to  the  heart  with  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit,  <  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner.'  No  sooner  had 
I  expressed  these  words,  but  by  the  eye  of  faith  (not  with  my 
bodily  eyes)  I  saw  Christ  my  Advocate,  at  the  right  hand 
of  God,  making  intercession  for  me.  I  believed  he  loved  me, 
and  gave  himself  for  me.  In  an  instant  the  Lord  filled  my 
soul  with  divine  love,  as  quick  as  lightning.  Immediately 
my  eyes  flowed  with  tears,  and  my  heart  with  love.  I  sat 
down  in  a  chair,  for  I  could  stand  no  longer,  and  these  words 
ran  through  my  mind  twenty  times  over:  'Marvelous  are  thy 
works,  and  that  my  soul  knoweth  right  well.'  I  lay  down  at 
night  in  peace  with  a  thankful  heart,  because  the  Lord  hath 
redeemed  me,  and  given  me  peace  with  God  and  all  mankind." 
Thus  had  George  Shadford  become  a  Methodist ;  four  of  his 
family  were  converted  in  less  than  a  year,  and  the  little 
Society  of  the  town  grew  vigorous  by  his  humble  labors. 
He  became  a  Local  Preacher.  Wesley  met  him,  sum- 
moned him  into  the  itinerant  field,  and  sending  him  to 
America  in  1772,  wrote  to  him,  "  I  let  you  loose,  George,  on 
the  great  continent.  Publish  your  message  in  the  open  face 
of  the  sun,  and  do  all  the  good  you  can.  I  am,  dear  George, 
yours  affectionately."  Captain  Webb  and  his  wife  were  on 
the  deck,  and  had  made  all  necessary  provisions  for  the  little 
band.  On  Good  Friday,  April  9,  1773,  accompanied  by 
Joseph  Yearbry  (another  preacher)  and  other  passengers,  they 
set  sail.     On  the  1st  of  June  they  came  to  anchor  in  the 


72  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Delaware,  "opposite  Chester,  about   sixteen  miles  south  of 
Philadelphia,"  after  a  passage  of  seven  and  a  half  weeks.     On 
the  3d  they  were  cordially  received  by  Asbury  and  the  Method- 
ists of  the  city ;  "  and  now,"  wrote  Rankin,  "  as  I  am  by  the 
providence   of  God   called    to   labor   for    a   season    on    this 
continent,  do  thou,  O  Holy  One  of  Israel,  stand  by  thy  weak 
and  ignorant  servant !     Show  thyself  glorious  in  power  and  in 
divine  majesty.     Let  thine  arm  be  made  bare,  and  stretched 
out  to   save,  so  that  wonders  and  signs  may  be  done  in  the 
name  of  thy  holy  child  Jesus."     Asbury  had  been  anxiously 
expecting  them;    "they  have  arrived,"  he    writes,    "to  my 
great   comfort."      Rankin    preached    that   night   on   an   ap- 
propriate text,  "  I  have  set  before  thee  an  open  door,  and  no 
man   can   shut  it."      On    Saturday,    12th,    accompanied   by 
Asbury,  he  reached  New  York  city,  and  was  met  by  many 
Methodists  on  the  dock  where  they  landed.     Rankin  had  thus 
successfully  begun  his  career  in  the  new  world.     Captain  Webb 
passed  up  the  Hudson,  and  Asbury  went  forth  over  his  old 
New  York  circuit  exclaiming  "  Glory  to  God  !  he  blesses  me 
with  the  graces  and  comforts  of  his  Spirit  in  my  soul !  "    Shad- 
ford  had  hastened  from  Philadelphia  to  New  Jersey.     By  the 
middle   of  July  the   scattered  itinerants  were  gathering   at 
Philadelphia;  an  important  event  was  about  to  occur  there — 
the  first  American  Methodist  Conference. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUEOH.  73 


CHAPTER  VII. 

FIRST  CONFERENCE  —  RETURN   OF   ENGLISH  PREACHERS. 

The  first  American  Methodist  Conference  began  its  session  in 
Philadelphia  on  Wednesday,  the  14th,  and  closed  on  Friday, 
the  16th  of  July,  1773.  Rankin  says,  "  There  were  present 
seven  Preachers,  besides  Boardman  and  Pilmoor  who  were  to 
return  to  England."  Asbury,  detained  on  his  New  York 
Circuit,  did  not  appear  till  the  second  day  of  the  session ;  he 
was  the  tenth  member,  making  the  number  the  same  as  at 
Wesley's  first  Conference  in  England,  held  twenty-nine  years 
before.  The  members  were  all  Europeans ;  they  were  Thomas 
Rankin,  Richard  Boardman,  Joseph  Pilmoor,  Francis  Asbury, 
Richard  Wright,  George  Shadford,  Thomas  Webb,  John  King, 
Abraham  Whitworth,  and  Joseph  Yearbry. 

The  first  reports  of  members  in  Society  were  made  to  this 
Conference:  there  were  180  in  New  York,  180  in  Philadel- 
phia, 200  in  New  Jersey,  500  in  Maryland,  100  in  Yirginia ; 
nearly  half  were  therefore  in  Maryland,  the  most  fruitful  soil 
that  the  denomination  has  found  in  the  country.  The  aggre- 
gate returns  were  1,160.  These,  however,  were  only  its  mem- 
bers of  classes  ;  there  were  many  more  adherents  who  consid- 
ered themselves  members  of  its  Societies.  The  preachers 
had  formed  Societies  without  classes ;  the  exact  discipline  of 
English  Methodism  had  not,  in  fact,  been  yet  fully  introduced 
into  America.  Asbury  labored  hard  to  conform  the  Amer- 
ican Societies  to  Wesley's  model,  but  had  met  with  no  little 
resistance  from  both  the  preachers  and  laymen ;  Rankin  had 
been  sent  out  for  this  purpose,  and  to  these  two  thorough  dis- 
ciplinarians we  owe  the  effective  organization  of  the  incip- 
ient Methodism  of  the  New  World. 

The  proceedings  of  the  session  had  direct  reference  to  the 
establishment  of  the  genuine  Wesleyan  Discipline  as  the  only 


H  HISTORY  OF    THE 

guarantee  of  Methodism  in  the  country.  The  published  re- 
port of  these  proceedings  forms  but  one  page  of  those  annual 
"Minutes,"  which  have  swollen,  by  our  day,  into  a  dozen 
stout  octavo  volumes.  It  consists  of  the  following  questions, 
answers,  and  appointments,  besides  the  returns  of  members 
already  cited. 

"  1.  Ought  not  the  authority  of  Mr.  Wesley  and  that  Con- 
ference to  extend  to  the  Preachers  and  people  in  America  as 
well  as  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland?     Yes. 

"  2.  Ought  not  the  doctrine  and  Discipline  of  the  Method- 
ists, as  contained  in  the  Minutes,  to  be  the  sole  rule  of  our 
conduct,  who  labor  in  the  Connection  with  Mr.  Wesley  in 
America  f     Yes. 

"  3.  If  so,  does  it  not  follow  that  if  any  Preachers  deviate 
from  the  Minutes  we  can  have  no  fellowship  with  them  till 
they  change  their  conduct  ?     Yes. 

"  The  following  rules  were  agreed  to  : 

"  1.  Every  Preacher  who  acts  in  connection  with  Mr.  Wesley 
and  the  brethren  who  labor  in  America  is  strictly  to  avoid 
administering  the  ordinances  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's 
supper. 

"  2.  All  the  people  among  whom  we  labor  to  be  earnestly 
exhorted  to  attend  the  Church,  and  to  receive  the  ordinances 
there ;  but  in  a  particular  manner  to  press  the  people  in  Mary- 
land and  Yirginia  to  the  observance  of  this  minute. 

"  3.  No  person  or  persons  to  be  admitted  into  our  love-feasts 
oftener  than  twice  or  thrice,  unless  they  become  members ;  and 
none  to  be  admitted  to  the  Society  meetings  more  than  thrice. 

"  4.  None  of  the  Preachers  in  America  to  reprint  any  of 
Mr.  Wesley's  books  without  his  authority  (when  it  can  be 
gotten)  and  the  consent  of  their  brethren. 

"5.  Robert  Williams  to  sell  the  books  he  has  already 
printed,  but  to  print  no  more  unless  under  the  above  re- 
strictions. 

"  6.  Every  Preacher  who  acts  as  an  assistant,  to  send  an  ac- 
count of  the  work  once  in  six  months  to  the  general  assistant." 

Wesley,  being  thoroughly  loyal  to  the  Established  Church 
of  England,  had  trained  his  people  to  humble  submission  to  its 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  75 

arrogant  policy  toward  them  ;  Rankin  enforced  a  like  submis- 
sion in  this  country,  as  the  English  Church  was  still  recognized 
here  in  some  of  the  colonies,  particularly  in  Maryland  and 
Virginia,  where  it  was  established  by  law ;  hence  the  rules 
numbered  first  and  second.  But  the  Revolution  was  already 
looming  over  the  country.  The  English  clergy  were  deserting 
it ;  and  many  that  remained  were  of  very  questionable  moral 
character.  A  great  proportion  of  the  colonists  had  no  tradi- 
tional attachment  to  the  Anglican  Church ;  the  submissive 
policy  of  Wesley  in  England  was  therefore  irrelevant  in  Amer- 
ica. He  was  too  distant  to  perceive  the  fact,  and  his  repre- 
sentatives were  too  Anglican  to  recognize  it ;  but  many  of  the 
American  Methodists,  and  some  of  their  Preachers,  were 
wiser.  They  insisted  upon  their  right  to  the  sacraments  from 
their  own  Pastors.  Theoretically  none  of  us,  now,  can  dispute 
their  claim ;  practically  Wesley  himself  conceded  it,  after  the 
additional  and  decisive  argument  of  the  Revolution,  by  consti- 
tuting them  an  independent  Church,  with  full  powers  to  con- 
secrate the  sacraments.  The  men  who  then  seemed  radical,  in 
this  respect,  were  so  simply  because  they  had  a  superior  fore- 
sight of  the  predestined  importance  and  needs  of  American 
Methodism.  Robert  Strawbridge  contended  sturdily  for  the 
right  of  the  people  to  the  sacraments,  and  could  not  be  deterred 
by  Asbury  or  Rankin  from  administering  them.  He  had 
founded  the  Church  in  the  regions  whence  now  nearly  one 
half  of  its  members  were  reported;  he  had  administered  to 
them  the  sacraments  before  any  English  itinerants  appeared 
in  the  country ;  and  being  an  Irishman,  he  shared  not  in  the 
deferential  sympathies  of  his  English  brethren  for  the  Estab- 
lishment :  as  for  any  other  sentiments,  the  actual  character  of 
the  representatives  of  the  Establishment,  clerical  and  lay, 
around  him,  could  claim  none  from  him  but  pity  or  con- 
tempt. Its  clergy  were  known  chiefly  as  the  heartiest  card- 
players,  horse-racers,  and  drinkers  of  the  middle  colonies. 
Strawbridge  was  doubtless  imprudent  in  the  Irish  resolution 
with  which  he  resisted  the  policy  of  the  English  itinerants ; 
for  the  intuitive  foresight  with  which  he  anticipated  the  neces- 
sity of  the  independent   administration   of  the   sacraments, 


76  HISTORY    OF    THE 

should  have  suggested  to  him  the  certainty  of  their  concession 
in  due  time,  and  therefore  the  expediency  of  patient  harmony 
in  the  infant  Church  till  that  time  should  come.  Discord  was 
extremely  perilous  at  this  early  stage  of  the  denomination. 
He  was  firm,  however;  and  though  the  first  "rule"  adopted 
by  this  Conference  seems  absolute,  yet  we  learn  from  Asbury 
that  it  was  adopted  with  the  understanding  that  "  no  preacher  ' 
in  our  connection  shall  be  permitted  to  administer  the  ordi- 
nances at  this  time  except  Mr.  Strawbridge,  and  he  under  the 
particular  direction  of  the  assistant."  A  concession  so  singu- 
lar shows  the  extraordinary  consideration  in  which  Straw- 
bridge  was  held,  the  influence  he  had  obtained  over  the  Socie- 
ties of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  perhaps  also  the  conscious 
necessity  of  the  independent  administration  of  the  sacraments 
in  that  chief  field  of  the  denomination.  As  we  shall  hereafter 
see,  this  just  claim  of  American  Methodism  could  not  be  effect- 
ually refused ;  it  led  to  increasing  contention,  and  at  last, 
providentially,  gave  birth  to  the  organization  of  the  "  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America." 

"  We  parted  in  love,"  writes  Kankin.  The  first  differences 
of  opinion  noticed  by  Asbury  seem  to  have  yielded  to  a  unan- 
imous sense  of  the  importance  of  harmony. 

The  appointments  for  the  ensuing  ecclesiastical  year  were : 
New  York,  Thomas  Rankin,  and  Philadelphia,  George  Shad- 
ford,  to  exchange  in  four  months ;  New  Jersey,  John  King, 
William  Watters ;  ^Baltimore,  Francis  Asbury,  Robert  Straw- 
bridge,  Abraham  Whitworth,  Joseph  Yearbry;  Norfolk, 
Richard  Wright ;  Petersburg,  Robert  Williams. 

Boardman  and  Pilmoor  do  not  appear  in  this  list,  though 
they  continued  in  the  country  nearly  six  months.  They 
had  labored  in  it  about  four  years.  When  they  saw  the 
terrible  certainty  of  war  they  quietty  retired,  embarking 
together  for  England  on  Sunday,  the  2d  of  January,  1774, 
<'  after  commending  the  Americans  to  God."  They  left  2,073 
members  in  the  Societies,  10  regularly  organized  circuits,  and 
17  preachers.  Though  no  minute  accounts  of  the  labors  of 
these  first  Methodist  itinerants,  in  America,  remain,  and  we 
are  left  to  the  mere  allusions  of  contemporary  records  for  an 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  77 

estimate  of  their  services,  these  scattered  notices  suffice  to  show 
that,  in  co-operation  with  their  assistants,  they  laid  substan- 
tially and  broadly  the  foundations  of  the  denomination,  preach- 
ing from  Boston  to  Savannah,  and  preparing,  effectively,  during 
more  than  four  years,  the  work  which  their  successors  were  to 
prosecute  with  a  success  which  has  had  no  parallel  since  the 
Apostolic  Age. 

Eichard  "Wright  also  returned  to  Europe  in  the  early  part 
of  1774.  Captain  Webb  lingered  in  the  Colonies  a  year  or 
more,  after  the  departure  of  Boardman  and  Pilmoor,  laboring 
with  his  might  to  extend  and  fortify  the  young  Societies,  not- 
withstanding the  increasing  tumults  of  politics  and  war.  But 
the  contemporary  records  give  us,  further,  only  allusions  to  this 
noble  man  and  devoted  evangelist.  We  may  here,  therefore, 
properly  take  our  final  leave  of  him.  He  devoted  at  least  nine 
years  to  the  promotion  of  American  Methodism,  the  periods  of 
his  absence  in  Europe  being  spent  there  in  its  behalf.  On  his 
return  to  England  he  secured  a  home  for  his  family  in  Port- 
land, on  the  heights  of  Bristol,  but  still  traveled,  and  preached 
extensively  in  chapels,  in  market-places,  and  in  the  open  air, 
attended  by  immense  congregations.  An  English  preacher 
writes:  "Wednesday,  December  1st.,  1796.  Last  night, 
about  eleven  o'clock,  Captain  Webb  suddenly  entered  into  the 
joy  of  his  Lord.  He  partook  of  his  supper,  and  retired  to 
rest  about  ten  o'clock  in  his  usual  health.  In  less  than  an 
hour  his  spirit  left  the  tenement  of  clay  to  enter  the  realms  of 
eternal  bliss.  He  professed  to  have  had  some  presentiment 
that  he  should  change  worlds  during  the  present  year,  and 
that  his  departure  would  be  sudden."  The  venerable  soldier 
and  evangelist  was  laid  to  rest  in  a  vault  under  the  altar 
of  Portland  Chapel,  Bristol,  by  "  a  crowded,  weeping  audi- 
ence." The  "  Society  showed  him  great  respect ;  the  chapel 
was  hung  in  mourning ;  "  and  the  trustees  erected  a  marble 
monument  to  his  memory  within  its  walls,  pronouncing  him 
"  Brave,  Active,  Courageous, — Faithful,  Zealous,  Successful, — 
the  principal  instrument  in  erecting  this  chapel."  His  name 
will  be  forever  illustrious  in  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  the 
New  World. 


78  HISTORY    OF    THE 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

NATIVE     EVANGELISTS. 

"While  some  of  the  laborers  were  retiring  from  the  field, 
others  were  entering  it — more  important,  because  native  evan- 
gelists. William  Watters's  name  appears  in  the  list  of  appoint- 
ments made  at  the  first  American  conference,  and  to  him  is 
now  universally  conceded  the  peculiar  distinction  of  being  the 
first  native  American  itinerant  of  Methodism  ;  an  honor  never 
to  be  shared,  never  impaired.  He  was  born  in  Baltimore 
county,  Maryland,  on  the  16th  of  October,  1751.  When  six- 
teen or  seventeen  years  of  age  he  was  considered  by  his  asso- 
ciates "a  very  good  Christian,"  but  he  thought  of  himself 
quite  otherwise.  Strawbridge,  King,  and  Williams  were 
abroad  around  him,  preaching  in  private  houses,  and  in  1770 
he  had  frequent  opportunities  of  hearing  them.  "  I  could  not 
conceive,"  he  writes,  "  what  they  meant  by  saying  we  must  be 
born  again ;  and,  though  I  thought  but  little  of  all  I  heard 
for  some  time,  yet  I  dared  not  despise  and  revile  them,  as 
many  then  did.  It  was  daily  my  prayer  that  God  would  teach 
me  the  way  of  life  and  salvation,  and  not  suffer  me  to  be  de- 
ceived. After  being  uncommonly  uneasy  for  several  days  con- 
cerning the  state  of  my  soul,  I  went  with  my  eldest  brother 
and  family  to  a  Methodist  prayer-meeting  in  his  neighborhood 
on  a  Sabbath  day  ;  and  while  one  was  at  prayer  I  saw  a  man 
near  me,  whom  I  knew  to  be  a  poor  sinner,  trembling,  weep- 
ing, and  praying,  as  though  his  all  depended  on  the  present 
moment ;  his  soul  and  body  were  in  an  agony.  I  went  home 
much  distressed,  and  fully  determined,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to 
seek  the  salvation  of  my  soul  with  my  whole  heart.  Yet  I 
could  not  shed  one  tear,  neither  could  I  find  words  to  express 
my  wretchedness  before  my  merciful  High  Priest;  I  could 
only  bemoan  my  forlorn  state,  and  I  wandered  about  through 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  79 

the  afternoon  in  solitary  places,  seeking  rest  but  finding  none." 
That  night,  however,  in  another  prayer-meeting,  both  his 
heart  and  eyes  melted.  The  next  day  he  was  unfit  for  any 
business :  he  spent  it  in  retirement.  "  I  refused  to  be  com- 
forted," he  says,  "  but  by  the  Friend  of  sinners."  For  three  days 
and  nights  eating,  drinking,  and  sleeping  in  a  measure  fled 
from  me,  while  my  flesh  wasted  away  and  my  strength  failed. 
Having  returned  in  the  afternoon  from  the  woods  to  my 
chamber,  my  eldest  brother,  (at  whose  house  I  was,)  knowing 
my  distress,  entered  my  room  with  all  the  sympathy  of  a 
brother  and  a  Christian.  To  my  great  astonishment  he  in- 
formed me  that  God  had  that  day  blessed  him  with  his  par- 
doning love.  After  giving  me  all  the  advice  in  his  power,  he 
kneeled  down  with  me,  and  with  a  low,  soft  voice  (which  was 
frequently  interrupted  by  tears)  he  offered  up  a  fervent  prayer 
to  God  for  my  present  salvation."  Young  Watters  received  "  a 
gleam  of  hope,"  but  was  not  content  with  it.  The  next  day 
several  "  praying  persons,"  who  knew  his  distress,  visited  him. 
He  requested  them  to  pray  with  him,  and  the  family  was  called 
in,  though  it  was  about  the  middle  of  the  day.  "  While  they 
all  joined  in  singing,  my  face,"  he  says,  "  was  turned  to  the 
wall,  with  my  eyes  lifted  upward  in  a  flood  of  tears,  and  I  felt 
a  lively  hope  that  the  Lord,  whom  I  sought,  would  suddenly 
come  to  his  temple.  My  good  friends  sung  with  the  spirit  and 
in  faith.  The  Lord  heard  and  appeared  spiritually  in  the 
midst  of  us.  A  divine  light  beamed  through  my  inmost  soul, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  encircled  me  round,  surpassing  the 
brightness  of  the  noonday  sun.  My  burden  was  gone,  my  sor- 
row fled,  all  that  was  within  me  rejoiced  in  hope  of  the  glory  of 
God ;  while  I  beheld  such  fullness  and  willingness  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  to  save  lost  sinners,  and  my  soul  so  rested  in  him,  that  I 
could  now,  for  the  first  time,  call  Jesus  Christ  '  Lord,  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  given  unto  me.'  The  hymn  being  concluded,  we 
all  fell  upon  our  knees,  but  my  prayers  were  all  turned  into 
praises." 

Such  was  the  spiritual  birth  of  the  first  regular  Methodist 
preacher  of  the  ISTew  World.  This  "  memorable  change,"  he 
says,  took  place  in  May,  1771,  in  the  twentieth  year  of  his  age. 


80  HISTORY    OF   THE 

He  immediately  joined  a  Methodist  class.  All  Methodists 
were,  in  those  days,  laborers  in  the  evangelical  vineyard.  On 
the  Lord's  day,  he  says,  they  commonly  divided  into  little 
bands  and  went  out  into  different  neighborhoods,  wherever 
there  was  a  door  open  to  receive  them,  two,  three,  or  four  in 
company,  and  would  sing  their  hymns,  pray,  read,  talk  to 
the  people,  "and  some  soon  began  to  add  a  word  of  exhor- 
tation." "  We  were  weak,  but  we  lived  in  a  dark  day,  and 
the  Lord  greatly  owned  our  labors.  It  was  astonishing  to  see 
how  rapidly  the  work  extended  all  around  us,  bearing  down 
opposition  as  chaff  before  the  wind.  Many  will  praise  God 
forever  for  our  prayer-meetings."  Two  of  his  brothers  were 
converted  through  his  instrumentality ;  one  of  them  becoming 
a  zealous  Local  Preacher,  and  later,  a  Traveling  Preacher. 

In  1772,  when  he  was  twenty-one  years  old,  William  Wat- 
ters  began  to  preach.  Robert  Williams  perceived  his  capacity 
for  usefulness,  and  took  him,  in  the  autumn,  to  Norfolk,  Ya. 
The  scene  of  his  departure  for  an  itinerant  life  was  deeply 
affecting.  His  mother,  whom  he  loved  tenderly,  offered  him 
all  her  possessions  if  he  would  abandon  his  purpose.  Many 
of  his  friends  "  wept  and  hung  around  "  him  ;  "  but,"  he  adds, 
"  I  found  such  resignation  and  so  clear  a  conviction  that  my 
way  was  of  the  Lord,  that  I  was  enabled  to  commit  them  and 
myself  to  the  care  of  our  heavenly  Father,  in  humble  con- 
fidence, that  if  we  never  met  again  in  this  vale  of  tears,  we 
should  soon  meet  where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling  and 
the  weary  are  at  rest."  And  now  he  began  in  earnest  his 
itinerant  career.  The  two  evangelists  journeyed  and  preached, 
almost  daily,  through  Baltimore,  Georgetown,  and  other  places, 
and  arrived  at  last  in  Norfolk,  where,  under  many  discourage- 
ments, Watters  soon  formed  a  circuit,  extending  some  distance 
among  the  neighboring  towns.  He  was  seized  with  the 
measles,  but  continued  his  labors.  Pilmoor  had  been  preach- 
ing in  Norfolk ;  he  was  now  released  by  Watters  to  pursue 
his  southern  tour  to  Charleston.  Williams  also  left  the  young 
itinerant  and  hastened  to  Portsmouth  and  further;  Jarratt  and 
M'Roberts,  "  two  English  clergymen,"  received  him  with  open 
arms,  and  welcomed  him  to  their* parishes.     Jarratt  became  a 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       81 

staunch  friend  to  the  Methodist  itinerants  and  the  confidential 
friend  of  Asbury :  his  name  often  occurs  in  the  early  Method- 
ist publications.  His  zealous  labors  produced  a  wide-spread 
sensation.  "Revivals"  prevailed  around  him  for  fifty  or  sixty 
miles  during  about  twelve  years.  He  held  frequent  meetings, 
and,  like  the  Methodists,  formed  numerous  societies.  He 
gratefully  acknowledges  that  in  the  counties  of  Sussex  and 
Brunswick  "  the  work,  from  the  year  1773,  was  chiefly  carried 
on  by  the  labors  of  the  people  called  Methodists."  He  that 
year  received  Williams  to  his  house  and  his  church.  "  Many," 
he  says,  "  in  these  parts  who  had  long  neglected  the  means  of 
grace  now  flocked  to  hear  not  only  me  and  the  traveling 
preachers,  but  also  the  exhorters  and  leaders.  And  at  their 
meetings  for  prayer  some  have  been  in  such  distress  that  they 
have  continued  therein  for  five  or  six  hours.  It  has  been 
found  that  these  prayer-meetings  were  singularly  useful  in 
promoting  the  work  of  God.  The  outpouring  of  the  Spirit 
which  began  here  soon  extended  itself,  more  or  less,  through 
most  of  the  circuit,  which  is  regularly  attended  by  the  travel- 
ing preachers,  and  which  takes  in  a  circumference  of  between 
four  and  five  hundred  miles.  Many  were  savingly  converted 
to  God,  and  in  a  very  short  time  not  only  in  my  parish,  but 
through  several  parts  of  Brunswick,  Sussex,  Prince  George, 
Lunenburg,  Mecklenburg,  and  Amelia  Counties."  Williams 
formed,  in  1774,  the  old  Brunswick  Circuit,  extending  from 
Petersburg  into  North  Carolina,  the  first  reported  in  Yirginia. 
Jarratt  requested  that  his  parish  might  be  included  in  this 
circuit,  that  "  all  who  chose  it  might  have  the  privilege  of 
meeting  in  Class  and  of  being  members  of  the  Society." 

This  good  work,  the  result  as  much  of  the  catholic  co- 
operation of  the  rector  as  of  the  labors  of  the  itinerants,  con- 
tinued down  to  1775,  when  Shadford  had  charge  of  the  circuit. 
He  reported  no  less  than  "two  thousand  six  hundred  and 
sixty-four  persons  in  the  Societies,  to  whom  eighteen  hundred 
were  added  in  one  year.  The  revival  spread  through  fourteen 
counties  in  Yirginia,  and  through  Bute  and  Halifax  Counties 
in  North  Carolina." 

In  the  absence  of  Williams,  on  his  visit  to  Jarratt,  Watters, 

6 


82  HISTORY    OF    THE 

was  prostrated  with  nervous  fever,  and  for  some  time  he 
seemed  suspended  between  life  and  death.  He  returned  to 
his  home  after  an  absence  of  eleven  months,  in  which  he  had 
been  thoroughly  initiated  into  the  hardships  and  triumphs  of 
the  itinerancy.  He  met  Asbury  for  the  first  time,  and  jour- 
neyed on  horseback  with  him  some  miles ;  Kankin  also  came 
across  his  path,  and  he  saw  in  these  apostolic  men  the  highest 
models  of  ministerial  character. 

After  the  Conference  of  1773,  he  went  to  Kent,  on  the 
Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland.  "  In  this  circuit,  which,"  he  says, 
"was  a  two  weeks'  one,  and  the  only  one  then  between  the 
two  bays,  I  continued  four  or  five  months,  with  greater  free- 
dom and  success. in  preaching  than  ever  before." 

The  Eastern  Shore  was  thenceforth  to  be  a  "  fruitful  garden 
of  Methodism."  At  the  next  Conference  "  Kent"  was  reported 
in  the  Minutes  as  a  circuit,  the  first  formed  on  the  Peninsula, 
and  in  the  same  year  its  first  church,  "  Kent  Meeting-house," 
was  erected.  The  chapel  rose  amid  hostility  ;  the  timbers  pre- 
pared for  it  were  carried  away  at  night  and  burned ;  but  the 
Society  persisted,  and  at  last  entered,  with  prayer  -and  praise, 
their  humble  temple.  It  has  since  been  known  as  "  Hinson's 
Chapel."  On  retiring  from  the  Eastern  Shore,  Watters  labored, 
till  the  next  Conference,  in  Baltimore  and  its  vicinity. 

Another  native  preacher,  destined  to  become  noted  in  the 
Church,  entered  the  itinerancy  in  1773,  though  his  name, 
Philip  Gatch,  does  not  appear  in  the  Minutes  till  the  next 
Conference.  He  was  born  near  Georgetown,  Md.,  in  the  same 
year  as  Watters,  1751 ;  they  began  their  public  labors  as 
Exhorters  the  same  year,  and  they  were  the  first  two  native 
Methodist  preachers  reported  in  the  "Minutes."  They  were 
remarkably  similar  also  in  character,  being  early  and  deeply 
susceptible  of  religious  impressions,  a  fact  that,  perhaps,  more 
than  any  other,  is  the  pledge  of  an  upright  life,  of  conscien- 
tious decision  of  character,  and  of  distinguished  usefulness. 
"  Indeed,"  he  writes,  "  from  a  child,  the  Spirit  of  grace  strove 
with  me ;  but  great  was  the  labor  of  mind  that  I  felt,  and  I 
did  not  know  the  way  to  be  saved  from  my  guilt  and  wretch- 
edness.    It  pleased  God,  however,  to  send  the  Gospel  into  our 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUKOH.  83 

neighborhood,  in  January,  1772,  through  the  instrumentality 
of  the  Methodists.  Previous  to  this  time  Eobert  Strawbridge 
had  settled  between  Baltimore  and  Fredericktown,  and  under 
his  ministry  three  others  were  raised  up,  Richard  Owen,  Sater 
Stephenson,  and  Nathan  Perigau.  Nathan  Perigau  was  the 
first  to  introduce  Methodist  preaching  in  the  neighborhood 
where  I  lived.  He  possessed  great  zeal,  and  was  strong  in  the 
faith  of  the  Gospel.  I  was  near  him  when  he  opened  the  exer- 
cises of  the  first  meeting  I  attended.  His  prayer  alarmed  me 
much ;  I  never  had  witnessed  such  energy  nor  heard  such  ex- 
pressions in  prayer  before.  I  was  afraid  that  God  would  send 
some  judgment  upon  the  congregation  for  my  being  at  such  a 
place.  I  attempted  to  make  my  escape.  I  was  met  by  a  per- 
son at  the  door  who  'proposed  to  leave  with  me ;  but  I  knew 
he  was  wicked,  and  that  it  would  not  do  to  follow  his  coun- 
sel, so  I  returned.  The  sermon  was  accompanied  to  my 
understanding  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  I  was  stripped  of  all  my 
self-righteousness.  Three  weeks  from  this  time  I  attended 
preaching  again  at  the  same  place.  My  distress  became  very 
great ;  my  relatives  were  all  against  me,  and  it  was  hard  to 
endure  my  father's  opposition." 

The  early  Methodists  were  singularly  exact  in  the  matter  of 
conversion,  and  the  contemporary  memoirs  abound  in  grateful 
commemorations  of  dates  in  their  spiritual  history.  Philip 
Gatch  records  that  "on  the  26th  of  April  I  attended  a  prayer- 
meeting.  After  remaining  some  time,  I  gave  up  all  hopes, 
and  left  the  house.  I  felt  that  I  was  too  bad  to  remain  where 
the  people  were  worshiping  God.  At  length  a  friend  came 
out  to  me,  and  requested  me  to  return  to  the  meeting ;  be- 
lieving him  to  be  a  good  man  I  returned  with  him,  and,  under 
the  deepest  exercise  of  mind,  bowed  myself  before  the  Lord, 
and  said  in  my  heart,  If  thou  wilt  give  me  power  to  call  on 
thy  name  how  thankful  will  I  be !  Immediately  I  felt  the 
power  of  God  to  affect  me,  body  and  soul.  I  felt  like  crying 
aloud.  God  said,  by  his  Spirit,  to  my  soul,  '  My  power  is 
present  to  heal  thy  soul,  if  thou  wilt  but  believe.'  I  instantly 
submitted  to  the  operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  my  poor 
soul  was.  set  at  liberty.    I  felt  as  if  I  had  got  into  a  new  world. 


84:  HISTORY   OF    THE 

I  was  certainly  brought  from  hell's  dark  door,  and  made  nigh 
unto  God  by  the  blood  of  Jesus.    I  was  the  first  person  known 
to  shout  in  that  part  of  the  country.     A  grateful  sense  of  the 
mercy  and  goodness  of  God  to  my  poor  soul  overwhelmed  me." 
His  father  had  threatened  to  drive  him  from  his  home,  and 
the  young  convert  now  expected  a  harsh  reception.     "  There 
is  your  elder  brother,"  the  father  had  said  to  him  in  his  deep 
contrition,  "  he  has  better  learning  than  you :  if  there  is  any- 
thing good  in  it  why  does  he  not  find  it  out  ?"     But  this  elder 
brother  was  "powerfully  converted"  at  the  same  meeting  with 
young  Gatch,  and  the  father  was  now  disarmed  of  his  opposi- 
tion.     The  brothers  introduced  family  prayers  immediately 
into  the  household,  and  Philip  Gatch's  first  exhortation  was 
at  the  altar  of  his  home.     "  The  Lord  blessed  me,"  he  says, 
"with  a  spirit  of  prayer,  and  he  made  manifest  his  power 
among  us.     I  rose  from  my  knees  and  spoke  to  them  some 
time,  and  it  had  a  gracious  effect  upon  the  family.     Thence- 
forward we  attended  to  family  prayer."     They  soon  had  Peri- 
gau  preaching  in  the  house.     Classes  were  formed ;   Gatch's 
parents,   most   of  their   children,    a  brother-in-law   and  two 
sisters-in-law,  were,  in  a  few  weeks,  recorded  among  the  class- 
members.    "  The  work  was  great,  for  it  was  the  work  of  God." 
In  the  latter  part  of  1772  Philip  Gatch  was  abroad,  a  zeal- 
ous Exhorter ;  he  had  formed  "  a  humble  circuit"  of  three  ap- 
pointments beyond  the  Pennsylvania  line.     In  the  following 
year  he  preached  his  first  sermon  at  "Evans's  Meeting-house, 
the   oldest   Society  of  Baltimore   county."     At  a   Quarterly 
Meeting  in  that  county  Rankin  met  him,  and,  commissioning 
him  as  a  traveling  preacher,  sent  him  off  to  "  the  Jerseys." 
The  humble  but  successful  John  King,  first  Methodist  preacher 
in  Baltimore,  had  been  designated  to  New  Jersey.     He  now 
met  Gatch  to  introduce  him  to  his  new  field  and  his  untried 
life.     John  King  was  prompt  and  energetic,  pausing  not  for 
ceremonious  attentions.     "  In  company  with  Mr.  King,"  says 
Gatch,  "I  crossed  the  Delaware.     He  preached  and  held  a 
love-feast.     On  the  following  morning  he  pursued  his  journey, 
leaving  me  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land."     King  was  immedi- 
ately away  to  distant  regions,  and  Gatch  was  now  alone  in  the 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  85 

whole  state,  as  a  ministerial  representative  of  Methodism,  a 
stripling  of  twenty-one  years,  of  small  stature  and  very  youth- 
ful appearance,  the  first  preacher  sent  as  a  regular  itinerant  to 
New  Jersey.  "  The  Lord  was  with  me,"  he  says,  "  and  my 
labors  on  the  circuit  were  crowned  with  some  success.  Fifty- 
two  united  with  the  Church,  most  of  whom  professed  religion. 
Benjamin  Abbott's  wife  and  three  of  her  children  were  among 
the  number.  David,  one  of  the  children,  became  a  useful 
preacher."  He  continued  in  this  extensive  field  till  the  An- 
nual Conference  of  1774. 

About  the  year  1773  another  notable  evangelist  appeared  in 
New  Jersey,  who,  though  he  was  not  yet  recorded  in  the 
Minutes,  equaled  his  itinerant  Iprethren  in  labors  if  not  in 
travels.  The  name  of  Benjamin  Abbott  is  in  our  day  inscribed 
on  a  monument  under  the  shadow  of  a  Methodist  Church  in 
Salem,  J?.  J.,  one  of  the  principal  scenes  of  his  usefulness; 
thousands  of  Methodists  have  visited  it  in  devout  pilgrimage, 
and  thousands  will  as  long  as  the  denomination  lasts,  ponder- 
ing the  wonders  of  his  strangely  eventful  life.  He  was  thor- 
oughly original,  unique  in  mind  and  character:  religious 
biography  hardly  records  his  fellow  except  in  the  story  of  the 
"evangelical  tinker"  and  "glorious  dreamer"  of  Bedford  jail. 
Like  Bunyan,  he  had  a  rude,  robust,  but  holy  soul,  profound 
in  the  mysteries  of  spiritual  life ;  a  temperament  deeply  mystic, 
and  subject  to  marvelous  experiences  which  baffle  all  scientific 
explanation,  unless  we  resort  to  the  doubtful  solutions  of  clair- 
voyance and  somnambulism.  He  was  a  great  dreamer,  and 
his  "  visions  of  the  night,"  recorded  with  unquestionable  hon- 
esty, were  often  verified  by  the  most  astonishing  coincidences. 
He  was  an  evangelical  Hercules,  and  wielded  the  word  as  a 
rude  irresistible  club  rather  than  a  sword.  His  whole  soul 
seemed  pervaded  by  a  certain  magnetic  power  that  thrilled 
his  discourses  and  radiated  from  his  person,  drawing,  melt- 
ing, and  frequently  prostrating  the  stoutest  opposers  in  his 
congregation.  It  is  probable  that  no  Methodist  laborer 
of  his  day  reclaimed  more  men  from  abject  vice.  He  sel- 
dom preached  without  visible  results,  and  his  prayers  were 
overwhelming. 


86  HISTORY   OF    THE 

Like  Bunyan,  his  early  life  had  been  riotously  wicked.  He 
first  appears  as  an  apprentice  in  Philadelphia,  "  where,"  he 
says,  "  I  soon  fell  into  bad  company,  and  from  that  to  card- 
playing,  cock-fighting,  and  many  other  evil  practices.  My 
master  and  I  parted  before  my  time  was  out,  and  I  went  into 
Jersey,  and  hired  with  one  of  my  brothers,  where  I  wrought 
at  plantation  work.  Some  time  after  this  I  married.  All 
this  time  I  had  no  fear  of  God  before  my  eyes,  but  lived  in 
sin  and  open  rebellion  against  him,  in  drinking,  fighting, 
swearing,  gambling,  etc. ;  yet  I  worked  hard  and  got  a  com- 
fortable living  for  my  family.  Thus  I  continued  in  a  scene 
of  sin  until  the  fortieth  year  of  my  age ;  yet  many  were  the 
promises  I  made,  during  that  period,  to  amend  my  life,  but- 
all  to  no  purpose;  they  were  as  often  broken  as  made. 
A  Methodist  preacher  came  to  preach  in  our  neighbor- 
hood, and  I  went  to  hear  him.  It  being  a  new  thing 
in  the  place  many  came  together  to  hear  him.  The  word 
reached  my  heart  in  such  a  manner  that  it  shook  every  joint 
in  my  body ;  tears  flowed  in  abundance,  and  I  cried  out  for 
mercy,  of  which  the  people  took  notice,  and  many  were  melt- 
ed into  tears."  And  now,  as  with  Bunyan,  ensued  a  struggle 
with  despair  itself;  "  Satan  suggested  to  me  that  my  day  of 
grace  was  over ;  therefore  I  might  pray  and  cry,  but  he  was 
sure  of  me  at  last."  In  passing  through  a  lonely  wood  at 
night  he  was  tempted  to  commit  suicide ;  but,  while  looking 
for  a  suitable  place  for  the  deed,  he  was  deterred  by  an  in- 
ward voice,  which  said,  "  This  torment  is  nothing  compared  to 
hell."  This  was  logic  too  clear  to  be  resisted;  he  forthwith 
mounted  his  wagon,  and  believing  the  tempter  to  be  immedi- 
ately behind  him,  drove  home  "  under  the  greatest  anxiety 
imaginable,"  with  his  hair  "  rising  on  his  head."  His  mind 
had  evidently  become  morbid  under  its  moral  sufferings. 
Hastening  the  next  day  to  a  Methodist  meeting,  "  I  went  in," 
he  writes,  "  sat  down,  and  took  my  little  son  upon  my  knee  ; 
the  preacher  began  soon  after.  His  word  was  attended  with 
such  power  that  it  ran  through  me  from  head  to  foot ;  I  shook 
and  trembled  like  Belshazzar,  and  felt  that  I  should  cry  out  if 
I  did  not  leave  the  house,  which  I  determined  to  do,  that  I 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  87 

might  not  expose  myself  among  the  people ;  but  when  I  at- 
tempted to  put  my  little  son  down  and  rise  to  go,  I  found  that 
my  strength  had  failed  me ;  I  was  utterly  unable  to  rise.  Im- 
mediately I  cried  aloud,  Save,  Lord,  or  I  perish  !  That  even- 
ing I  set  up  family  prayer,  it  being  the  first  time  I  ever  had 
attempted  to  pray  in  my  family." 

Thus  did  this  rough  but  earnest  soul  struggle  as  in  "the 
hour  and  power  of  darkness."  The  next  day,  accompanied 
by  his  sympathetic  wife,  he  went  more  than  ten  miles  to  a 
Methodist  assembly.  That  night  (the  11th  of  October,  1772, 
for  he  is  minute  in  such  memorable  dates)  he  awoke  from  ter- 
rible dreams,  and  saw,  as  in  a  vision  of  faith,  the  Lord  Jesus, 
with  extended  arms,  saying,  "  I  died  for  you."  He  wept  and 
adored  God  with  a  joyful  heart.  "  At  that  moment,"  he 
says,  "  the  Scriptures  were  wonderfully  opened  to  my  under- 
standing. My  heart  felt  as  light  as  a  bird,  being  relieved  of 
that  load  of  guilt  which  before  had  bowed  down  my  spirits, 
and  my  body  felt  as  active  as  when  I  was  eighteen,  so  that  the 
outward  and  inward  man  were  both  animated."  He  rose,  and 
calling  up  the  family,  expounded  the  Scriptures  and  prayed, 
and  then  set  off  to  spend  the  day  in  telling  his  neighbors 
what  God  had  done  for  him.  Benjamin  Abbott  had  thus 
placed  his  feet  securely  in  "  the  path  of  life."  He  had  reached 
it  indeed  through  darkness  and  terrors,  stumbled  into  it,  it 
may  be  said,  through  errors,  morbid  agitations,  if  not  tempo- 
rary insanity ;  but  had  evidently  attained,  at  last,  the  fuada*- 
mental  truth  of  the  Reformation  and  of  Christianity,  justifica- 
tion by  faith ;  and  he  now  and  henceforth,  till  his  last  hour, 
stood  out  in  the  light,  with  unshakable  steadfastness,  on  this 
rock  of  divine  truth,  a  saved,  a  consecrated,  a  triumphant 
man.  He  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  the  Bible,  and 
to  "exhort  all  that"  he  "had  any  intercourse  with."  From 
"  exhorting "  he  at  last  began  to  preach ;  his  first  sermon  was 
over  the  coffin  of  a  neighbor.  His  word  was  now  uniformly 
"with  power;"  the  sturdiest  sinners  trembled,  or  escaped 
in  alarm  from  his  mongrel  assemblies.  He  was  a  man  of 
great  natural  courage,  and  though  there  was  an  unction  of 
habitual  tenderness  and  humility  in  his  manners,  often  reveal- 


88  HISTORY   OF   THE 

ing  itself  in  tears,  yet  woe  to  the  man  who  dared  in  his 
presence  to  treat  religion  with  ridicule  or  irreverence.  His 
indignant  exhortations  overwhelmed  and  swept  before  him  any 
such  offender.  He  was  an  example  of  what  the  evangelical 
historians  report  of  the  apostolic  ministry :  "  Now  when  they 
saw  the  boldness  of  Peter  and  John,  and  perceived  that  they 
were  unlearned  and  ignorant  men,  they  marveled;  and  they 
took  knowledge  of  them,  that  they  had  been  with  Jesus." 

A  Society  was  now  formed  in  his  neighborhood,  he  becom- 
ing its  Class  Leader;  it  was  soon  included  in  the  circuit,  and 
Methodism  was  permanently  established  in  that  region.  Ab- 
bott spread  it  out  in  all  directions.  He  broke  up  the  ground 
around  him  for  fifteen  miles.  He  worked  for  his  livelihood 
on  week-days,  held  prayer  and  class  meetings  at  night,  and 
preached  on  Sundays.  No  itinerant  in  New  Jersey  did  more 
to  found  securely  the  denomination  in  the  State.  He  was  its 
first  Methodist  convert  that  preached  the  Gospel.  Asbury 
said,  "  He  is  a  man  of  uncommon  zeal,  and  of  good  utterance ; 
his  words  come  with  great  power." 

Still  another  native  preacher  began  his  labors  in  1773, 
though  his  name  was  not  recorded  in  the  list  of  Conference 
appointments  till  the  following  year.  Daniel  Ruff  was  con- 
verted in  Harford  County,  Maryland,  in  the  great  religious 
excitement  which  prevailed  in  that  and  in  Baltimore  counties 
during  1771.  The  next  year  his  house,  near  Havre  de  Grace, 
became  a  "  preaching-place  "  for  the  itinerants,  and  the  year 
following  Ruff  himself  became  noted  as  an  Exhorter  and  Local 
Preacher,  warning  his  neighbors  to  "flee  from  the  wrath  to 
come,  and  bringing  many  of  them  to  the  Saviour."  He  was  a 
man  of  sterling  integrity,  great  simplicity,  and  remarkable 
usefulness.  Asbury,  visiting  his  neighborhood,  March  4, 1774, 
rejoiced  over  his  success,  and  preached  on  the  appropriate 
text,  "  The  Lord  hath  done  great  things  for  us,  whereof  we  are 
glad."  "  Honest,  simple  Daniel  Ruff,"  he  wrote,  "  has  been 
made  a  great  blessing  to  these  people.  Such  is  the  wisdom 
and  power  of  God  that  he  has  wrought  marvelously  by  this 
plain  man  that  no  flesh  may  glory  in  his  presence."  Joining 
the  Conference  in  1774,  Ruff  traveled  Chester  Circuit,  which 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  89 

then  comprised  all  the  Methodist  appointments  in  the  State  of 
Delaware  and  in  Chester  County,  Pa.  He  labored  also  in 
New  Jersey.  Freeborn  Garrettson,  one  of  the  most  successful 
preachers  of  Methodism,  was  converted  after  hearing  one  of 
his  sermons,  and  Ruff  first  called  him  into  the  itinerancy. 
Buff  was  the  first  native  preacher  appointed  to  "Wesley  Chapel 
in  New  York. 

Such  were  the  principal  native  evangelists  who  began  to 
appear  in  the  field  about  the  time  of  the  first  American  Con- 
ference. 


90  HISTORY    OF   THE 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PRINCIPAL  EVANGELISTS,  1773-1784. 

Of  the  labors  of  the  principal  evangelists  during  the  ecclesias- 
tical year  following  the  Conference  of  1773  we  have  but  scanty 
intimations;  enough,  however,  to  show  that  they  resumed 
their  work  with  a  strong  consciousness  that  it  had  now  become 
an  established  fact  in  the  religious  history  of  the  country ;  that, 
being  organized  and  put  under  the  rigorous  military  discipline 
of  Wesley,  it  was  destined  to  deepen  and  widen,  and  assume 
the  same  importance  which  Methodism  had  acquired  in  the 
parent  land.  They  went  forth  therefore  to  their  circuits  with 
the  increased  zeal,  not  to  say  enthusiasm,  which  such  confi- 
dence was  suited  to  inspire ;  "  with  a  full  resolution,"  wrote 
Rankin,  "  to  spread  genuine  Methodism  in  public  and  in 
private  with  all  our  might." 

Rankin  and  Shadford  were  appointed,  as  we  have  seen, 
respectively  to  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  but  were  to 
exchange  during  the  year.  Rankin's  spirit  glowed  with 
renewed  ardor  as  he  closed  the  Conference.  "  For  some  days 
past,"  he  wrote,  "I  have  felt  the  Redeemer's  presence  in  a 
most  sensible  manner ;  I  want  more  life,  light,  and  love ;  I 
want  to  be  entirely  devoted  to  God,  and  to  walk  before  him 
as  Enoch  and  Abraham  did.  O  how  I  long  to  see  the  work  of 
God  break  out  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left !  "  Though 
superintendent  of  the  whole  American  field,  he  gave  faithful 
attention  to  the  local  and  particular  interests  of  the  Societies, 
"  visiting  all  the  classes  "  while  in  New  York  in  October. 
He  returned  to  Philadelphia,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
month  set  out  southward.  At  the  beginning  of  November  he 
was  holding  a  quarterly  meeting  at  the  Watters'  homestead. 
The  regions  round  about  poured  out  their  people  on  the  occa- 
sion.    "  Such  a  season,"  he  says,  "  I  have  not  seen  since  I 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  91 

came  to  America.     The  Lord  made   the   place   of  his  feet 
glorious." 

"  Wednesday,  November  3.  After  breakfast  we  finished  our 
temporal  business,  and  spent  some  time  with  the  local  preach- 
ers and  stewards.  At  ten  o'clock  our  general  love-feast  began. 
It  was  now  that  the  heavens  were  opened  and  the  skies  poured 
down  divine  righteousness.  I  had  not  seen  such  a  season  as 
this  since  I  left  my  native  land." 

In  March,  1774,  we  trace  Kankin  to  New  York,  still  exult- 
ing in  the  success  of  his  work.  On  the  6th  he  writes :  "  The 
congregations  were  large,  and  the  presence  of  the  Holy  One 
of  Israel  was  in  our  midst.  I  observed  that  the  labors  of 
my  fellow-laborer,  Mr.  Shadford,  have  not  been  in  vain." 
On  May  23d  he  was  on  his  way  to  Philadelphia,  "  to  meet 
the  brethren  in  our  second  little  Conference."  His  head- 
quarters being  alternately  in  Philadelphia  and  JSTew  York, 
did  not  limit  him  to  those  cities;  he  itinerated  not  only 
between  them,  exchanging  every  four  months,  but  around 
them  on  extensive  circuits.  He  adopted  fully  Asbury's  views 
of  the  itinerancy,  not  only  enforcing  them  in  his  administra- 
tion as  Wesley's  "  General  Assistant,"  but  exemplifying  them 
in  his  own  labors. 

Meanwhile  Shadford  had  begun  his  work  for  the  ecclesias- 
tical year  in  JSTew  York  with  an  ardor  equal,  if  not  superior,  to 
that  of  Eankin.  He  had  a  soul  of  flame,  and  was  singularly 
effective  in  his  preaching.  "  A  volume  might  be  written,"  says 
"Wakeley,  the  chronicler  of  John-street  Chapel,  "  concerning 
Mr.  Shadford.  He  had  a  great  harvest  of  souls  in  America." 
Exchanging  with  Eankin,  he  went  to  Philadelphia,  where  he 
says,  "  I  had  a  very  comfortable  time  for  four  or  Hwe  months 
that  I  spent  with  a  loving,  teachable  people.  The  blessing  of 
the  Lord  was  with  us  of  a  truth,  and  many  were  really  con- 
verted to  God.  They  had  kept  prayer-meetings  in  different 
parts  of  the  city  for  some  time  before  I  went  to  it,  which  had 
been  a  great  means  of  begetting  life  among  the  people  of  God 
as  well  as  others."  He  preached  in  the  streets  and  lanes  of 
the  city,  and  left  it  at  the  end  of  the  year,  with  two  hundred 
and  twenty-four  members  in  its  Society.     His  first  year's  la- 


92  HISTORY    OF    THE 

bor  in  America  had  added  nearly  two  hundred  to  the  Church, 
"  while  hundreds  had  been  benefited  in  various  ways  under 
his  labors." 

With  his  usual  promptness  Asbury  was  in  the  saddle,  on  the 
last  day  of  the  Conference  of  1773,  leaving  Philadelphia  for 
his  great  Baltimore  Circuit,  and  praying,  "  May  the  Lord  make 
bare  his  holy  arm,  and  revive  his  glorious  work  !  "  He  con- 
tinued his  travels  on  this  circuit  during  the  ecclesiastical  year 
with  no  little  success,  but  with  much  physical  disability,  suf- 
fering most  of  the  time  from  fever  and  ague,  going  to  and  fro 
among  his  twenty-four  appointments,  and  preaching  in  the  in- 
termissions of  his  disease.  His  spirit  was  exalted  meanwhile 
with  religious  fervor.  "The  spirit  of  holy  peace  reigns  in 
my  heart,"  he  writes,  "  glory  be  to  God  !  "  "  My  soul  longs 
for  all  the  fullness  of  God.  When  shall  it  once  be  ?  When 
shall  my  soul  be  absorbed  in  purity  and  love  I "  "  My  soul 
longs  and  pants  for  God ! "  Such  are  the  ever-recurring 
phrases  of  his  Journals.  Occasionally,  however,  he  records 
deep  dejection,  the  effect  of  his  malady  and  of  the  peculiar 
embarrassments  of  the  incipient  condition  of  the  Societies  he 
was  almost  everywhere  forming.  Baltimore  itself  contained 
about  this  time  five  Churches,  Roman  Catholic,  Episcopal  or 
English,  Lutheran,  and  Quaker.  The  Eev.  Mr.  Otterbein,  of 
the  Lutheran  Church,  whose  name  occurs  frequently  in  the 
early  history  of  Methodism,  was  settled  over  a  new  congrega- 
tion, partly  through  the  influence  of  Asbury,  early  in  the  fol- 
lowing year.  Rev.  Mr.  Swoop,  whom  Asbury  describes  as  a 
"good  man,"  was  pastor  of  the  Lutheran,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Chase 
of  the  Episcopal  Churches.  St.  Paul's,  in  which  the  latter 
ministered,  was  built  in  1744,  and  was  the  first  church  in  the 
city.  Such  was  the  ecclesiastical  status  of  the  town  of  Balti- 
more at  this  period.  The  first  Methodist  chapel  was  not  yet 
opened,  but  was  begun.  In  the  last  week  of  November,  1773, 
Asbury  writes:  "I  have  been  able  to  officiate  at  the  town  and 
Point  every  day,  and  the  congregations  rather  increase.  Lord, 
make  me  humble  and  more  abundantly  useful ;  and  give  me 
the  hearts  of  the  people  that  I  may  conduct  them  to  thee !  I 
feel  great  hopes  that  the  God  of  mercy  will  interpose,  and  do 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  93 

these  dear  people  good.  This  day  we  agreed  with  Mr.  L.  to  under- 
take the  brick- work  of  our  new  building  at  the  Point.  Many 
are  under  some  awakenings  here,  and  they  are  very  kind  and 
affectionate  to  me.  My  heart  is  with  the  Lord.  He  is  my  all 
in  all."  u  The  Lord  giveth  me  great  patience,  and  all  things 
richly  to  enjoy,  with  many  very  kind  friends,  who  pay  great 
attention  to  me  in  my  affliction.  Among  others,  Mr.  Swoop, 
a  preacher  in  high  Dutch,  came  to  see  me.  He  appeared  to  be 
a  good  man,  and  I  opened  to  him  the  plan  of  Methodism." 

Swoop  and  Otterbein  now  became  his  steadfast  friends.  In 
May,  1774,  he  records  that  he  "had  a  friendly  intercourse 
with  Mr.  Otterbein  and  Mr.  Swoop,  the  German  ministers,  re- 
specting the  plan  of  Church  discipline  on  which  they  intended 
to  proceed.  They  agreed  to  imitate  our  method  as  nearly  as 
possible."  A  significant  allusion  is  this,  foreshadowing  a  new 
and  important  development  of  Methodism  which  has  contin- 
ued, with  advancing  prosperity,  to  our  day,  achieving  no  little 
usefulness,  especially  among  the  German  population  of  the 
Middle  and  "Western  States,  and  well  deserving  here  an  episod- 
ical notice  at  the  risk  of  some  delay  in  our  narrative. 

Otterbein,  under  the  influence  of  Asbury,  soon  became  the 
founder  of  "  The  United  Brethren  in  Christ,"  sometimes  called 
"The  German  Methodists."  His  zeal  was  ardent,  and  his 
preaching  eloquent.  He  held  special  prayer-meetings,  a 
custom  unknown  in  his  Church  at  that  day.  "  God  was  pleased 
to  call  to  his  help  Martin  Boehm,  George  A.  Gueting,  Chris- 
topher Grost,  Christian  Newcomer,  Andrew  Zeller,  George 
Pfeimer,  John  Neidig,  Joseph  Huffman,  Jacob  Bowl  us,  and 
other  holy  men.  The  purity  and  simplicity  with  which  these 
reformers  preached  the  Gospel  induced  many  to  hear  the 
word,  and  numbers  became  the  happy  subjects  of  converting 
grace.  Large  meetings  were  appointed  in  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  and  Virginia.  Their  first  Conference  was  held  at 
Baltimore  in  the  year  1789,  the  following  preachers  being 
present:  William  Otterbein,  Martin  Boehm,  George  A.  Guet- 
ing, Christian  Newcomer,  Adam  Lohman,  John  Ernst,  Henry 
Weidner. " 

Asbury  and  his  Methodist  coadjutors  co-operated  harmo- 


94  HISTORY    OF    THE 

niously  with  these  good  men.  Otterbein  assisted  Coke  in 
the  episcopal  consecration  of  Asbury.  The  German  brethren 
increased  rapidly,  numerous  Societies  were  formed,  and  in 
1800  an  Annual  Conference  assembled  in  Maryland.  Otter- 
bein and  Boehm  were  elected  Superintendents,  or  Bishops,  of 
the  infant  Church.  "  Otterbein  was  large,  and  very  command- 
ing in  his  personal  appearance,  with  a  prominent  forehead, 
upon  which  the  seal  of  the  Lord  seemed  to  be  plainly  im- 
pressed. He  was  a  ripe  scholar  in  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  phi- 
losophy, and  divinity.  Bishop  Asbury  thus  spoke  of  him  when 
preaching  the  funeral  sermon  of  Martin  Boehm :  "  Pre-eminent 
among  these  is  "William  Otterbein.  He  is  one  of  the  best 
scholars  and  greatest  divines  in  America,  .  .  .  and  now  his 
sun  of  life  is  setting  in  brightness.  Behold  the  saint  of  God 
leaning  upon  his  staff,  waiting  for  the  chariots  of  Israel.' " 

On  receiving  word  of  his  death  Asbury  exclaimed,  "  Great 
and  good  man  of  God !  An  honor  to  his  Church  and  country ; 
one  of  the  greatest  scholars  and  divines  that  ever  came  to 
America  or  was  born  in  it." 

Following  from  the  beginning  some  of  the  special  methods 
of  Methodism,  the  "United  Brethren  "  have  at  last  grown  into 
a  considerable  denomination,  quite  analogous  to  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  "  Their  sixteenth  Annual  Conference  was 
held  at  Mount  Pleasant,  Westmoreland  county,  Pa.,  on  the 
6th  of  June,  1815,  when  they  adopted  a  Discipline  which  was 
mainly  an  abridgment  of  that  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  as  will  appear  from  the  facts,  that  they  have  Quarter- 
ly, Annual,  and  General  Conferences,  with  Bishops,  presiding 
elders,  probation,  and  course  of  study,  the  following  forming  a 
part  of  the  course:  Wesley's  Sermons,  Watson's  Institutes, 
Fletcher's  Appeal  and  Checks,  Powell  on  Apostolical  Succes- 
sion, Clarke's  Theology,  etc.,  etc.  The  duties  of  the  preacher 
having  charge  of  the  circuit,  the  questions  asked  and  the  in- 
structions given,  are  Methodistic.  In  our  day  the  "United 
Brethren  in  Christ "  report  30  Conferences,  nearly  1,300 
Preachers,  more  than  82,000  Communicants,  nearly  900 
chapels,  357  districts,  208  missions,  about  1,300  Sunday-schools 
with  50,000  scholars,  a  university  named  after  Otterbein,  and 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  95 

a  Book  Concern,  with  three  periodical  publications.  Asbury 
then  was  doing  far-reaching  good  in  Maryland  in  these  early 
times.  Assisted  by  several  local  preachers  and  exhorters,  he 
kept  his  extensive  circuit  active  with  interest,  and  such  was 
his  success  that  by  the  end  of  the  year  the  number  of  Method- 
ists in  his  Societies  was  more  than  doubled,  being  1,063,  a  gain 
of  563.  At  a  Quarterly  Meeting  in  February,  1774,  the  large 
field  was  divided  into  four  Circuits,  Baltimore,  Baltimore 
Town,  Frederick,  and  Kent ;  and  eight  laborers  were  desig- 
nated to  it.  No  less  than  iive  chapels  were  built  about 
this  time,  two  of  them  in  Baltimore,  one  at  the  Point,  and 
the  others  in  the  town  proper.  The  first,  on  Strawberry 
Alley,  has  already  been  noticed;  the  second  was  on  Lovely 
Lane,  a  small  street  which  ran  east  and  west  between 
Calvert  and  South  streets.  The  location  was  a  good  one  at 
the  time,  about  a  square  and  a  half  from  the  present  Light- 
street  Church,  which  sprung  from  it.  In  March,  1775,  Asbury 
had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  it  completed,  and  on  the  21st 
of  May,  1776,  the  Conference  met  there,  for  the  first  time  in 
Baltimore.  Asbury  left  at  least  thirty  Societies  in  Mary- 
land. Preachers  and  Exhorters  were  rising  up  numerously 
among  them.  The  denomination  had  struck  its  roots  inerad- 
icably  into  the  soil  of  the  state. 

Wright  had  been  successfully  at  work,  meanwhile,  in 
Virginia,  and  on  the  9th  of  May,  1774,  on  his  return,  he 
cheered  Asbury  with  good  news.  "  He  gave  us  a  circumstan- 
tial account  of  the  work  of  God  in  those  parts.  One  house  of 
worship  is  built,  and  another  in  contemplation ;  two  or  three 
more  preachers  are  gone  out  upon  the  itinerant  plan ;  and  in 
some  parts  the  congregations  consist  of  two  or  three  thousand 
people."  The  first  church  here  mentioned  became  famous  in 
after  years  as  "  Yeargon's  Chapel,"  the  first  Methodist  edifice 
in  Virginia ;  it  was  located  near  the  southern  line  of  the  State, 
and  was  the  outpost  of  the  denomination,  at  this  time,  for  the 
farther  South.  The  other  structure  was  in  Sussex  County,  the 
second  in  the  state,  well  known  as  "  Lane's  Chapel." 

"Williams  also  traveled  in  Virginia  during  this  "  Conference 
year,"  having  been  appointed  to  Petersburg  Circuit.     It  ex- 


96  HISTORY   OF   THE 

tended  into  North  Carolina,  and  took  the  title  of  Brunswick 
Circuit  at  the  next  Conference,  a  name  of  renown  in  the  early 
Methodist  annals.  He  reported  from  it  at  the  Conference 
218  members. 

It  was  about  the  present  period  that  an  important  family, 
converted  under  Jarratt's  ministry,  joined  the  Methodists,  on 
Williams's  Circuit,  and  opened  their  house  as  one  of  his 
preaching  stations.  A  youthful  son  of  the  household  was 
preparing  to  become  one  of  the  chieftains  of  the  new  cause, 
its  founder  in  the  New  England  States,  and  its  first  historian. 
Jesse  Lee  was  converted  in  1773,  and  the  next  year  his  name 
was  enrolled  among  the  members  of  Williams's  Societies. 

About  the  same  time  another  young  man,  in  Maryland,  was 
struggling  with  his  awakened  conscience,  for  God  was  sum- 
moning him  to  eminent  services  in  the  Methodistic  movement. 
"  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord,"  he  says,  "  at  times  strove  very 
powerfully  with  me,  and  I  was  frequently  afraid  that  all  was 
not  well  with  me,  especially  when  I  was  under  Methodist 
preaching.  To  these  people  I  was  drawn."  Freeborn  Gar- 
rettson's  mind  was  thus  irresistibly  directed  to  a  life  of 
religious  self-sacrifice  and  labor,  which  have  rendered  his  name 
forever  memorable.  In  a  short  time  we  shall  meet  him  again, 
as  one  of  the  most  successful  itinerant  champions  of  the 
Methodistic  movement.  For  more  than  half  a  century  the 
record  of  his  life  is  to  be  substantially  a  history  of  his 
denomination. 

In  the  Spring  of  1774  the  dispersed  itinerants  wended  their 
way  again  toward  Philadelphia  for  their  second  Conference. 
It  met  on  May  25,  and  continued  till  Friday,  the  27th. 
The  disciplinary  views  of  Rankin,  enforced  during  the  pre- 
ceding year  upon  the  Preachers  and  Societies  with  a  rigor 
which  seemed  to  some  of  them  hardly  tolerable,  had  produced 
salutary  effects  generally,  as  evinced  by  the  growing  efficiency 
of  the  denomination,  and  an  unexpected  increase  of  its 
members.  Rankin  says  of  the  session,  "Everything  con- 
sidered, we  had  reason  to  bless  God  for  what  he  had  done  in 
about  ten  months.  Above  a  thousand  members  are  added  to 
the  Societies,  and  most  of  these  have  found  peace  with  God. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  97 

"We  now  labor  in  the  provinces  of  New  York,  the  Jerseys, 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Yirginia.  A  reinforcement  of 
seven  preachers  was  received  on  trial."  Five  candidates  were 
admitted  to  membership.  The  statistical  returns  showed 
10  circuits,  17  preachers,  and  2,073  members.  There  had 
been  an  increase  since  the  last  Conference  of  4  circuits, 
7  preachers,  and  913  members.  The  members  reported  at  the 
previous  session  had  been  nearly  doubled.  New  York  re- 
ported 222;  Philadelphia,  204;  New  Jersey,  257;  Maryland, 
1,063 ;  Yirginia,  291.  Maryland  had  gained  563 ;  she  had 
more  than  doubled  her  number  of  the  preceding  year ;  Yir- 
ginia had  gained  191,  and  had  nearly  trebled  her  previous 
returns.  Maryland  now  included  more  than  half  the  members 
of  the  entire  denomination ;  Maryland  and  Yirginia  together 
included  more  than  two  thirds  of  them.  Methodism  was  cen- 
tralizing about  the  center  of  the  colonies.  The  itinerancy  was 
under  a  stern  regimen  at  that  day.  Hitherto,  it  transferred 
the  preachers  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia  every  four 
months ;  now  it  was  more  rigorous  toward  the  laborers  of  the 
cities  than  before,  for  while  the  preachers  on  the  country 
circuits  exchanged  semi-annually,  those  of  Philadelphia  and 
New  York  exchanged  quarterly.  The  itinerancy  was  prized 
not  only  as  affording  variety  of  ministerial  gifts  to  the  So- 
cieties, but  as  a  sort  of  military  drill  to  the  Preachers.  It 
kept  them  energetic  by  keeping  them  in  motion.  No  great 
captain  has  approved  of  long  encampments.  The  early 
Methodist  itinerants  were  an  evangelical  cavalry ;  they  were 
always  in  the  saddle ;  if  not  in  line  of  battle,  yet  skirmishing 
and  pioneering;  a  mode  of  life  which  conduced  not  a  little  to 
that  chivalric  spirit  and  heroic  character  which  distinguished, 
them  as  a  class. 

On  Friday,  the  27th  of  May,  the  little  band  dispersed  again 
to  their  circuits. 

Asbury  hastened  to  New  York.  He  was  bowed  with' 
disease,  and  though  fervent  in  spirit,  the  record  of  his  labors 
for  the  year  is  but  meager.  It  is,  however,  pervaded  with- 
devout  aspirations,  and  with  an  energy  impatient  of  rest. 
-Additional    missionaries    arrived    from    England    about    the 


98  HISTORY    OF    THE 

middle  of  November;  they  relieved  him  and  he  hastened 
southward.  He  spent  three  months  in  Philadelphia,  but  was 
disabled  much  of  the  time  by  sickness.  "  I  had,"  he  writes, 
"some  conversation  with  Captain  Webb,  an  Israelite  indeed, 
and  we  both  concluded  that  it  was  my  duty  to  go  to  Bal- 
timore.    I  feel  willing  to  go,  if  it  is  even  to  die  there." 

In  the  latter  part  of  February  he  was  on  his  way  to 
Baltimore,  preaching  as  he  went.  And  now,  with  gradually 
returning  health,  he  becomes  himself  again  ;  he  preaches, 
almost  daily,  at  the  Point  or  in  the  town,  and  incessantly 
hastens  to  more  or  less  distant  parts  of  the  circuit,  proclaiming 
his  message  along  his  route,  and  again  we  read  of  "  the 
divine  energy  going  forth  among  the  people ; "  of  "  much  of 
the  power  of  God  "  in  the  assemblies ;  of  their  bowing  "  under 
the  weight  of  the  word ; "  of  "  rich  and  poor "  thronging 
them  and  "  melting  under  the  truth."  Otterbein  accompanies 
him,  and  they  have  "  a  blessed  and  refreshing  season." 
"Williams  arrives  from  Virginia  and  cheers  him  with  increas- 
ingly good  news  from  that  province,  still,  as  in  the  previous 
year,  the  scene  of  the  greatest  religious  interest  in  America. 
He  reports  "  five  or  six  hundred  souls  justified  by  faith,  and 
five  or  six  circuits  formed;  so  that  we  have  now  fourteen 
circuits  in  America,  and  about  twenty-two  Preachers  are  re- 
quired to  supply  them." 

Asbury's  usefulness  in  the  Baltimore  Circuit  in  1775 
had  permanently  important  results.  He  gathered  into  the 
young  Societies  not  a  few  of  those  influential  families  whose 
opulence  and  social  position  gave  material  strength  to  Meth- 
odism through  much  of  its  early  history  in  that  city,  while 
their  exemplary  devotion  helped  to  maintain  its  primitive 
purity  and  power.  Henry  Dorsey  Gough  and  his  family  were 
distinguished  examples.  Gough  possessed  a  fortune  in  lands 
and  money  amounting  to  more  than  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  He  had  married  a  daughter  of  Governor  Bidgeley. 
His  country  residence — Perry  Hall,  about  twelve  miles  from 
the  city — was  "one  of  the  most  spacious  and  elegant  in 
America  at  that  time."  But  he  was  an  unhappy  man  in  the 
midst  of  his  luxury.     His  wife  had  been  deeply  impressed  by 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  99 

the  Methodist  preaching,  but  he  forbade  her  to  hear  them 
again.  While  reveling  with  wine  and  gay  companions,  one 
evening,  it  was  proposed  that  they  should  divert  themselves 
by  going  together  to  a  Methodist  assembly.  Asbury  was  the 
preacher,  and  no  godless  diversion  could  be  found  in  his  pres- 
ence. "  What  nonsense,"  exclaimed  one  of  the  convivialists, 
as  they  returned,  "  what  nonsense  have  we  heard  to-night  I " 
u  No ;"  replied  Gough,  startling  them  with  sudden  surprise, 
"  No ;  what  we  have  heard  is  the  truth,  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus."  "I  will  never  hinder  you  again  from  hearing  the 
Methodists,"  he  said,  as  he  entered  his  house  and  met  his  wife. 
The  impression  of  the  sermon  was  so  profound  that  he  could 
no  longer  enjoy  his  accustomed  pleasures.  He  became  deeply 
serious  and,  at  last,  melancholy,  "and  was  near  destroying 
himself"  under  the  awakened  sense  of  his  misspent  life ;  but 
God  mercifully  preserved  him.  Hiding  to  one  of  his  planta- 
tions, he  heard  the  voice  of  prayer  and  praise  in  a  cabin,  and, 
listening,  discovered  that  a  negro  from  a  neighboring  estate 
was  leading  the  devotions  of  his  own  slaves,  and  offering  fer- 
vent thanksgivings  for  the  blessings  of  their  depressed  lot. 
His  heart  was  touched,  and  with  emotion  he  exclaimed,  "Alas, 
O  Lord !  I  have  my  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands,  and  yet, 
ungrateful  wretch  that  I  am,  I  never  thanked  thee,  as  this 
poor  slave  does,  who  has  scarcely  clothes  to  put  on  or  food  to 
satisfy  his  hunger."  The  luxurious  master  was  taught  a  lesson, 
on  the  nature  of  true  contentment  and  happiness,  which  he 
could  never  forget.  His  work-worn  servants  in  their  lowly 
cabins  knew  a  blessedness  which  he  had  never  found  in  his 
sumptuous  mansion.  He  returned  home,  pondering  the  mys- 
tery, with  a  distressed  and  contrite  heart.  He  retired  from 
his  table,  which  was  surrounded  by  a  large  company  of  his 
friends,  and  threw  himself  upon  his  knees  in  a  chamber. 
While  there  he  received  conscious  pardon  and  peace.  In 
a  transport  of  joy  he  went  to  his  company,  exclaiming, 
"I  have  found  the  Methodists'  •  blessing,  I  have  found  the 
Methodists'  God!"  Both  he  and  His  wife  now  became 
members  of  the  Methodist  Society,  and  Perry  Hall  was 
henceforth  the  chief  asylum  of,  the  itinerants  in  the  Mid- 


100  HISTOEY   OF    THE 

die  States  and  a  "preaching  place."  The  wealthy  convert 
erected  a  chapel  contiguous  to  his  house;  the  first  Amer- 
ican Methodist  church  that  had  a  bell,  and  it  rang  every 
morning  and  evening,  summoning  his  numerous  household 
and  slaves  to  family  worship.  They  made  a  congregation, 
for  the  establishment  comprised  a  hundred  persons.  The 
Circuit  Preacher  supplied  it  twice  a  month,  and  Local  Preach- 
ers every  Sunday.  He  built  another  chapel  for  the  Methodists 
in  a  poor  neighborhood.  His  charities  were  large  ;  and  he  was 
ever  ready  to  minister,  with  both  his  means  and  his  Christian 
sympathies,  to  the  afflicted  within  or  without  the  pale  of  his 
Church.  He  preached  at  times,  and,  during  the  agitations  of 
the  Revolution,  was  brought  before  the  magistrates  for  his 
public  labors.  He  died  in  1808,  while  the  General  Conference 
of  his  Church  was  in  session  in  Baltimore.  Asbury,  who  had 
led  him  to  the  cross,  was  present  to  comfort  him  in  his 
final  trial,  and  says,  "  In  his  last  hours,  which  were  painfully 
afflictive,  he  was  much  given  up  to  God.  "When  the  corpse 
was  removed,  to  be  taken  into  the  country  for  interment, 
many  of  the  members  of  the  General  Conference  walked  in 
procession  after  it  to  the  end  of  the  town."  "  Perry  Hall," 
says  a  Methodist  chronicler,  "  was  the  resort  of  much  company, 
among  whom  the  skeptic  and  the  Romanist  were  sometimes 
found.  Members  of  the  Baltimore  bar,  the  elite  of  Maryland, 
were  there.  But  it  mattered  not  who  were  there ;  when  the 
bell  rang  for  family  devotion  they  were  seen  in  the  chapel, 
and  if  there  was  no  male  person  present,  who  could  lead  the 
.devotions,  Mrs.  Gough  read  a  chapter  in  the  Bible,  gave  out  a 
hymn,  which  was  often  raised  and  sung  by  the  colored  servants, 
after  which  she  would  engage  in  prayer.  Take  her  altogether, 
few  such  have  been  found  on  earth."  Asbury  called  her  a 
"  true  daughter"  to  himself;  and  Coke,  "  a  precious  woman,  of 
fine  sense."  "  Her  only  sister  became  a  Methodist  about  the 
same  time  that  she  did.  Most  of  her  relations  followed  her 
example  of  piety.  Many  of  them  were  Methodists  cast  in  the 
old  die."  Her  only  daughter  became,  under  her  parental  train- 
ing, a  devoted  Methodist,  and  her  marriage  into  the  Carroll 
family,  memorable  in  our  revolutionary  history,  did  not  impair, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  101 

but  extended  her  religious  influence.  We  shall  have  occasion 
often  to  return  to  Perry  Hall,  and  shall  at  last  meet  there 
Asbury  and  Coke,  Whatcoat  and  Vasey,  from  England,  and 
Black  from  Nova  Scotia,  constructing  under  its  hospitable  roof 
the  organization  of  the  M.  E.  Church  prior  to  the  "  Christmas 
Conference."  Asbury  continued  his  successful  labors  on  the 
Baltimore  Circuit  till  May,  1775,  when  he  departed  for  the 
Conference  at  Philadelphia. 

Rankin  has  left  but  brief  notices  of  his  labors  during  this 
ecclesiastical  year.  He  remained  apparently  about  six  months 
in  Philadelphia,  making  expeditions  to  New  Jersey  and  other 
adjacent  regions.  In  the  autumn  of  1774  he  went  into  Mary- 
land to  hold  a  Quarterly  Conference.  Shadford,  and  several 
of  his  fellow-laborers  in  the  state,  were  present,  and  "Williams 
had  come  two  hundred  miles  from  Virginia  to  encourage  them 
with  the  good  news  with  which  he  had  refreshed  Asbury. 

Shadford  was  appointed  by  the  Conference  of  1774  to  Balti- 
more Circuit,  with  three  other  preachers,  Robert  Lindsey, 
Edward  Dromgoole,  and  Richard  Webster.  Lindsey,  an  Irish- 
man, was  admitted  on  trial  at  the  Conference  of  1774.  He 
continued  to  itinerate  in  this  country  about  three  years,  after 
which  he  returned  to  Europe,  and  labored  in  the  Wesleyan 
ministry  till  1788.  Dromgoole  was  also  an  Irishman.  He 
had  been  a  Papist,  but  was  led,  in  1770,  by  Methodist  influence 
in  his  native  country,  to  renounce  Popery,  by  reading,  publicly 
in  a  church,  his  recantation.  In  the  same  year  he  arrived  in 
Baltimore  with  a  letter  of  introduction  to  his  countryman, 
Robert  Strawbridge.  He  heard  Strawbridge  preach,  and 
induced  him  to  visit  Fredericktown.  Methodism  was  thus 
introduced  into  that  community.  Dromgoole  still  deemed  him- 
self an  unregenerate  man ;  but  after  a  period  of  deep  mental 
distress  he  received  the  peace  of  God  while  upon  his  knees  on  a 
Sunday  evening.  He  began  to  preach  in  1773.  He  labored 
in  various  places,  but  chiefly  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina, 
till  1786,  when  he  located  on  the  Brunswick  Circuit,  where  he 
continued  to  be  useful.  Richard  Webster,  Shadford's  other 
colleague,  was  one  of  the  earliest  Methodist  converts  of  Har- 
ford County,  Maryland,  where  he  joined  the  Church  under 


102  HISTORY   OF    THE 

Strawbridge  in  1768 ;  in  1770  his  house  was  a  "  preaching 
place  "  of  the  denomination  ;  about  the  same  time  he  became 
a  public  laborer  in  the  cause ;  in  1772  Asbury  sent  him  out  to 
travel  with  John  King,  on  the  Eastern  Shore  of  the  state. 
He  seems  to  have  been  an  unpretentious  "Helper ;"  for  though 
his  name  appears  in  the  appointments  for  1774  and  1775,  he 
was  never  received  on  trial,  but  traveled  under  direction  of 
the  "  preacher  in  charge." 

Led  on  by  the  ardent  Shadford,  these  new  laborers  (all  of 
them  for  the  first  time  on  the  list  of  appointments)  were,  with 
their  coadjutors  on  the  two  other  Maryland  Circuits,  greatly 
successful.  The  number  of  Methodists  in  the  state  was  in- 
creased, by  more  than  one  third,  before  the  ensuing  session  of 
the  Conference. 

Among  their  fellow-laborers  in  the  state  was  Philip  Gatch, 
who  traveled  the  Frederick  Circuit  some  months,  and  Kent 
Circuit  most  of  the  remainder  of  the  year.  Gatch  writes: 
u  These  were  trying  times  to  Methodist  preachers.  Some  en- 
dured as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible ;  others  left  the  field  in 
the  day  of  conflict."  Pie  had  several  severe  rencounters  with 
persecutors  on  this  circuit.  At  .one  of  his  appointments  a  man 
entered  the  door  while  he  was  preaching,  whose  menacing 
aspect  excited  his  suspicion.  He  gradually  approached  the 
preacher,  and  at  the  last  prayer  seized  the  chair  at  which  the 
latter  was  kneeling,  evidently  intending  to  use  it  as  a  weapon 
with  which  to  attack  him ;  but  Gatch  took  hold  of  it  and 
prevented  the  blow.  The  contest  now  became  violent,  and 
the  assailant  "  roared  like  a  lion,"  while  the  evangelist  u  was 
upon  his  knees  reproving  him  in  the  language  of  St.  Paul." 
But  the  ruffian  was  soon  seized  by  persons  in  the  congregation, 
and  thrown  with  such  energy  out  of  the  house  that  his  coat 
was  torn  entirely  down  his  back.  While  in  the  yard  he 
"roared  like  a  demon;"  but  Gatch  escaped  without  injury. 
He  rejoiced  over  one  of  his  best  trophies  won  in  this  contested 
place :  Philip  Cox,  afterward  a  useful  traveling  preacher,  was 
converted  there. 

In  accordance  with  the  rule  of  the  Conference,  Gatch  was 
transferred,  before   the  close  of  the  year,  back  to  Frederick, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  103 

Ci  where,"  he  says,  "  we  had  to  labor  hard."  He  reports 
"  persecutions  "  as  "  prevailing  "  on  this  circuit.  Storms  were 
gathering  around  the  whole  horizon  of  the  country.  Political 
agitation  and  war  were  about  to  relax  all  its  moral  ties,  and 
the  Methodist  itinerants  were  to  suffer  severely  in  the  gen- 
eral tumult ;  to  be  mobbed,  tarred  and  feathered  ,  imprisoned, 
driven  into  exile  or  concealment ;  but  they  were  not  men 
who  could  be  defeated  by  such  hostilities,  and  in  their  worst 
trials  they  showed  their  greatest  strength  and  won  their  great- 
est triumphs.  "  We  had,"  says  Gatch  on  Frederick  Circuity 
"  this  consolation,  that  though  in  some  places  indifference 
and  persecution  prevailed,  yet  in  others  the  cause  was  pros- 
perous, and  many  joined  the  Church."  The  increase  on  this 
circuit,  for  the  year,  was  over  one  hundred  and  sixty. 
Before  the  Conference  he  was  transferred  again,  as  far  as 
New  Jersey. 

Meanwhile  the  rough  energy  but  saintly  devotion  and  apos- 
tolic zeal  of  Abbott  were  awaking  large  portions  of  the  State 
of  New  Jersey.  Though  he  was  the  Class  Leader  and  practi- 
cally the  Pastor  of  the  Society  in  his  own  neighborhood,  he 
was  preaching  at  large  on  Sundays  and  at  nights.  He  went 
to  Deerfield,  where  a  mob  assembled  and  threatened  to  tar 
and  feather  any  itinerant  who  should  appear  there.  He  was 
met  by  a  friend  on  the  road  and  admonished  to  turn  back. 
"  At  first,"  he  says,  "  I  thought  I  would  return  ;  consulting 
with  flesh  and  blood,  I  concluded  that  it  would  be  a  disagree- 
able thing  to  have  my  clothes  spoiled,  and  my  hair  all  matted 
together  with  tar."  But  he  recalled  the  sufferings  of  his  Lord, 
and  immediately  "  resolved  to  go  and  preach  if  he  had  to  die 
for  it."  He  found  a  large  congregation  filling  the  house  and 
crowding  the  neighboring  premises.  "  I  went,"  he  continues, 
"  in  among  them,  and  gave  out  a  hymn,  but  no  one  sung ;  I 
then  sung  four  lines  myself,  while  every  joint  in  my  body 
trembled.  I  said,  '  Let  us  pray,'  and  before  prayer  was  over 
the  power  of  God  fell  on  me  in  such  a  manner  that  it  instantly 
removed  from  me  the  fear  of  man,  and  some  cried  out.  I 
arose,  took  my  text  and  preached  with  great  liberty ;  before 
the  meeting  was  over  I  saw  many  tears  drop  from  their  eyes, 


104  IIISTORY    OF    THE 

and  the  head  of  the  mob  said  that  '  he  had  never  heard  such 
preaching  since  Robert  Williams  went  away ;'  so  I  came  off 
clear.  Glory  be  to  God,  who  stood  by  me  in  this  trying  hour ! " 
He  soon  found  his  way  into  Salem,  where  his  bones  now  rest, 
and  where  he  is  still  venerated  as  the  tutelary  saint  of  its 
Methodist  community.  "  A  large  congregation,"  he  writes, 
"  assembled,  to  whom  I  preached,  and  God  attended  the  word 
with  power ;  some  cried  out,  and  many  were  in  tears.  After 
the  sermon  I  made  another  appointment  for  that  day  two 
weeks.  There  being  an  elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
present,  he  asked  me  if  I  would  come  and  preach  at  his 
house  ;  I  told  him  that  I  would,  on  that  day  two  weeks,  at 
three  o'clock.  Another  said  it  was  the  truth  I  had  spoken, 
but  in  a  very  rough  manner.  At  the  time  appointed  I 
attended,  and  found  many  people  at  both  places.  At  the  first, 
I  felt  much  freedom  in  speaking,  and  after  sermon  found  that 
both  the  man  and  his  wife  were  awakened.  At  the  second, 
great  power  attended  the  word ;  several  cried  aloud,  and  one 
fell  to  the  floor." 

Abbott,  after  his  own  hard  struggles  with  the  "  great  adver- 
sary," felt  a  sort  of  bold  defiance  of  him,  and  was  prepared 
always  to  invade  his  strongest  holds.  He  now  made  a  Sab- 
bath expedition  to  a  place  which,  for  its  notorious  depravity, 
was  called  "  Hell  Neck."  "  One  sinner  there,"  he  writes, 
"  said  he  had  heard  Abbott  swear,  and  had  seen  him  fight,  and 
now  would  go  and  hear  him  preach.  The  word  reached  his 
heart,  and  he  soon  after  became  a  convert  to  the  Lord.  After 
meeting  he  invited  me  home  with  him,  and  several  others 
invited  me  to  preach  at  their  houses,  so  that  I  got  preaching 
places  all  through  the  neighborhood,  and  a  considerable 
revival  of  religion  took  place,  although  it  had  been  so  noted 
for  wickedness.  Among  others,  a  young  lad,  about  fifteen 
years  old,  was  awakened,  and  in  a  few  weeks  found  peace ; 
his  father,  being  a  great  enemy  to  religion,  opposed  him  vio- 
lently, and  resolved  to  prevent  his  being  a  Methodist,  and 
even  whipped  him  for  praying.  This  soon  threw  him  into 
great  distress,  and  on  the  very  borders  of  despair.  I  heard  of 
it  and  went  to  see  him.     He  told  me  his  temptations."     Abbott 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  105 

perceived  his  morbid  anxiety,  and  comforted  him.  "The 
son,"  he  adds,  "then  cried  out,  '  The  Lord  is  here  !  the  Lord 
is  here  ! '  The  father  then  wept.  I  went  to  prayer,  and  the 
family  were  all  in  tears  ;  after  this  the  son  went  on  joyfully. 
After  I  left  this  house  I  went  to  another  of  the  neighbors,  and 
after  some  conversation  with  them  I  went  to  prayer ;  the 
man  kneeled,  but  the  woman  continued  knitting  all  the  time 
of  the  prayer.  When  I  arose  I  took  her  by  the  hand  and  said, 
'  Do  you  pray  V  and  looking  steadfastly  at  her,  added,  '  God 
pity  you.'  This  pierced  her  heart,  so  that  she  never  rested 
until  her  soul  was  converted  to  the  Lord.  The  whole  neigh- 
borhood seemed  alarmed." 

Such  quaintly  told  incidents  abound  throughout  the  narra- 
tive of  this  good  man's  life.  He  thus  "  went  about  doing 
good,"  and  in  his  devout  simplicity  and  earnestness  rescued 
more  souls  than  all  the  more  formal  pastors  for  miles  around 
him.  The  simple  but  degenerate  people  understood  his  art- 
less words.  All  denominations  gathered  in  his  congrega- 
tions, and  often  an  individual  conversion  became  the  germ 
of  a  nourishing  society.  "  A  Quaker,"  he  says,  "  who  one 
day  came  to  hear  me,  asked  me  home  with  him ;  when  I 
entered  his  house  I  said,  '  God  has  brought  salvation  to  this 
house.'  At  prayer,  in  the  evening,  his  daughter  was  struck 
under  conviction,  and  soon  after  the  old  man,  his  wife,  three 
sons  and  two  daughters,  were  all  brought  to  experience  relig- 
ion, so  that  we  formed  a  considerable  Society." 

He  reached  "Woodstown,  where  he  had  a  crowded  house. 
He  was  mobbed  there,  and  bayonets  were  presented  at  his 
breast ;  "  the  people  fled,"  he  says,  "  every  way  ;  a  man  pre- 
sented his  gun  and  bayonet  as  though  he  would  run  me 
through  ;  it  passed  close  by  my  ear  twice.  If  ever  I  preached 
the  terrors  of  the  law,  I  did  it  while  he  was  threatening  me 
in  this  manner,  for  I  felt  no  fear  of  death,  and  soon  found  he 
could  not  withstand  the  force  of  truth ;  he  gave  way  and  re- 
treated to  the  door.  They  endeavored  to  send  him  back 
again,  but  in  vain,  for  he  refused  to  return." 

He  moved  his  family  to  a  new  home,  near  Salem ;  "  here," 
he  continues,  "  I  had  many  doors  opened  for  me  to  preach, 


106  HISTORY    OF    THE 

and  a  powerful  work  of  religion  took  place,  attended  with 
several  remarkable  conversions." 

His  fame  was  now  general,  and  "  the  work,"  he  says, 
"became  general;  we  used  to  hold  prayer-meetings  two  or 
three  times  a  week,  in  the  evening ;  sometimes  we  would  be- 
gin preaching  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  not  part  till  night ;  many 
long  summer  days  we  thus  spent.  Sometimes  we  used  to 
assemble  in  the  woods  and  under  the  trees,  there  not  being 
room  in  the  house  for  the  people  that  attended.  Often,  some 
of  them  would  be  struck  to  the  ground  in  bitter  lamentations. 
The  Lord  wrought  great  wonders  among  us." 

Thus  the  labors  of  this  energetic  man  went  on  from  village 
to  village,  town  to  town,  county  to  county,  till  the  whole 
state  felt,  more  or  less,  his  influence,  and  acknowledged  that 
he  was  a  strange  but  indisputable  power  among  the  people, 
turning  scores  and  hundreds  "from  darkness  to  light,  and 
from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God." 

William  Watters  was  also  abroad,  in  New  Jersey,  during 
most  of  this  ecclesiastical  year.  "  The  latter  part  of  the  win- 
ter," he  says,  "  and  through  the  spring,  many  in  the  upper 
end  of  the  circuit  were  greatly  wrought  on,  and  our  meetings 
were  lively  and  powerful."  John  King  traveled,  this  year, 
the  Norfolk  Circuit,  Ya.,  and  nearly  doubled  its  members. 
Kobert  Williams,  and  three  other  preachers,  labored  on  the 
Brunswick  Circuit,  in  the  same  colony.  We  have  already  had 
allusions  to  his  success.  "  In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  there 
was  a  remarkable  revival  of  religion  in  most  of  the  circuits. 
Christians  were  much  united,  and  much  devoted  to  God,  and 
sinners  were  greatly  alarmed."  "  Indeed,  the  Lord  wrought 
wonders  among  us  during  that  year,"  writes  the  early  histori- 
an, Jesse  Lee.  He  wrote  from  his  own  observation,  for  it  was 
in  this  year  that  the  house  of  his  father,  Nathaniel  Lee,  was 
opened  as  a  "  preaching  place  "  for  the  itinerants.  The  father 
became  a  Class  Leader,  and  two  of  his  sons,  John  and  Jesse, 
traveling  Preachers,  taking  rank  among  the  most  effective 
itinerants  of  their  day.  Young  Jesse  Lee  was  now  going 
"  many  miles  on  foot,"  by  night  and  by  day,  to  attend  the 
meetings  of  the  circuit.     Jarratt,  the  evangelical  Kector,  was 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  107 

active  in  this  revival ;  it  was,  in  fact,  but  a  continuance,  with 
increased  intensity,  of  that  extraordinary  religious  excitement 
which  has  already  been  noticed  as  prevailing  the  preceding 
year  throughout  this  part  of  the  state.  "  In  the  spring  of 
1774,  it  was,"  says  Jarratt,  "  more  remarkable  than  ever.  A 
goodly  number  were  gathered  in,  this  year,  both  in  my  parish 
and  in  many  of  the  neighboring  counties.  1  formed  several 
societies  of  those  which  were  convinced  or  converted."  The 
power  of  this  "  Great  Eevival "  was  seen  in  the  return  of  mem- 
bers from  Virginia  at  the  end  of  the  ecclesiastical  year.  The 
two  circuits  of  the  province  became  three ;  its  less  than  three 
hundred  Methodists  multiplied  to  nearly  a  thousand. 

Though  some  of  the  English  Preachers  had  returned  to 
England,  and  war  between  that  country  and  the  Colonies  was 
now  imminent,  "Wesley  sent  out  recruits  to  the  small  company 
of  itinerants,  for  he  believed  that,  whatever  might  be  the  issue 
of  the  political  struggle,  Methodism  was  now  a  permanent 
fact  in  the  moral  destiny  of  the  New  World,  and  should  be 
thoroughly  fortified  for  the  future,  the  more  so  as  the  political 
troubles  of  the  country  would  tend  to  retard  its  progress. 
Accordingly  in  1774  James  Dempster  and  Martin  Rodda 
arrived,  accompanied  by  William  Glendenning,  who  appears 
to  have  come  with  them  as  a  volunteer,  like  Yearbry,  the 
companion  of  Rankin  and  Shadford.  They  appeared  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  year,  in  time  to  relieve  Asbury,  in  New 
York,  as  we  have  seen,  for  his  labors  in  Philadelphia  and 
Baltimore. 

It  was  now  a  time  that  tried  men's  souls.  "  The  dreadful 
cloud,"  writes  Watters,  "  that  had  been  hanging  over  us  con- 
tinued to  gather  thicker  and  thicker,  so  that  I  was  often 
bowed  down  before  the  God  of  the  whole  earth."  In  two  or 
three  years  more  all  the  English  missionaries  had  fled  from 
the  country,  or  had  left  the  denomination,  except  Asbury, 
whose  loyalty  to  the  Church  was  superior  to  his  loyalty  to  the 
British  throne.  Providentially,  however,  a  native  ministry 
had  not  only  been  begun,  in  time  for  this  exigency,  but  was 
about  to  be  reinforced  by  some  of  the  ablest  men  with  which 
American  Protestantism  has  been  blessed.     Not  a  few  of  them 


108  HISTORY   OF   THE 

were  already  preparing,  in  comparative  obscurity,  for  their 
great  careers.  They  were  to  attain  an  importance  in  their 
own  denomination,  if  not  in  the  general  Christianity  of  the 
land,  hardly  less  imposing  than  that  which  at  last  distinguished 
their  contemporaries,  the  rising  statesmen,  the  great  founders 
of  the  Kepublic ;  and  Asbury  himself  was,  by  his  steadfastness, 
his  administrative  ability  and  success,  to  become,  in  the  re- 
gards of  the  former,  what  Washington  became  in  the  regards 
of  the  latter. 

Darker  days  were  at  hand.  The  country  was  rife,  not 
only  with  political  clamors,  but  with  the  preparations  of 
war.  Methodism  was  to  pass  from  its  feeble  infancy  into  vig- 
orous adolescence,  tested  and  strengthened  by  severest  trials. 
The  necessity  of  its  mission  in  the  New  "World  was  to  be  dem- 
onstrated, and  its  providential  career  fully  opened  by  the  most 
momentous  revolution  of  modern  states.  We  shall  behold  it 
hesitating  not  before  the  fiery  ordeal  which  is  to  try  it,  but 
entering  it  courageously,  and  communing  there  with  "  a  form 
like  the  Son  of  God,"  and  coming  forth  at  last  renewed  in  all 
its  energies,  "  rejoicing  as  a  strong  man  to  run  a  race." 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    OHUEOH.  109 


CHAPTEE  X. 

TRIALS  AND  PROGRESS  DURING  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR: 

1775-1784. 

The  American  Eevolution  was  now  impending  and  inevitable. 
It  was  to  have  a  profound  effect  on  Methodism,  for  American 
independence  implied  the  independence  of  American  Method- 
ism. The  latter  virtually  became  independent  at  the  breaking 
out  of  the  war,  and  the  constitution,  which  organized  it  into 
the  "Methodist  Episcopal  Church,"  was  to  be  adopted  in 
about  one  year  after  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain, 
and  to  precede  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution  by 
about  five  years.  The  new  Church  was  to  be  the  first  religious 
body  of  the  country  which  should  recognize,  in  its  organic 
law,  by  a  solemn  declaration  of  its  Articles  of  Eeligion,  the  new 
Kepublic ;  the  first  to  pay  homage,  in  the  persons  of  its  chief 
representatives,  its  first  Bishops,  to  the  supreme  Magistracy. 

The  Eevolution  was  the  normal,  the  necessary,  that  is  to 
say,  the  providential  consequence  of  the  geographical  condi- 
tion and  colonial  training  of  the  American  people.  Most  of 
them  had  come  to  the  New  World  for  relief  from  religious  op- 
pressions or  disabilities— Puritans  and  Quakers  from  England, 
Scotch  Presbyterians  from  the  north  of  Ireland,  Palatines  from 
the  Ehine,  Huguenots  from  France,  Waldenses  from  Piedmont, 
Methodists  from  Ireland.  It  was  impossible  that  such  a  peo- 
ple, when  grown  to  social  maturity,  their  settlements  expanded 
to  such  contiguity  that  they  blended,  their  various  tongues 
nearly  lost  in  a  common  language,  should  not  become  con- 
scious of  a  community  of  interests  in  religious  toleration  and 
liberty,  and  a  common  hostility  to  the  foreign  system  which 
had  oppressed  them  and  banished  them  from  the  homes  of 
their  fathers.  They  needed  but  to  hear  the  tocsin  of  revolt 
sounded  through  the  land,  to  rise   and  rend   the  remaining 


110  HISTORY    OF    THE 

shreds  of  traditional  attachments  which  connected  them  with 
the  foreign  world. 

Thus  considered,  the  American  Revolution  bore  a  moral 
character  to  which  the  American  Methodists  could  not  be  in- 
different. Xeither  they  nor  their  native  teachers  were  opposed 
to  it,  though  the  presence  and  controlling  authority  of  their 
English  missionaries  held  them  somewhat  in  check  and  pro- 
voked against  them  public  suspicion.  "War  is  always  a  crime 
on  one  side  or  the  other  of  the  contestants,  and  a  crime 
of  such  contagious  enormity  that  it  is  always  demoralizing, 
temporarily,  at  least,  to  the  communities  which  suffer  from  it, 
as  well  as  to  those  who  inflict  it.  The  contemporaneous  influ- 
ence of  the  Revolution  on  the  religious  condition  of  the  colo- 
nies was  generally  bad.  Political  and  military  events  absorbed 
the  public  attention.  Infidelity,  especially  through  the  influ- 
ence of  Thomas  Paine,  a  conspicuous  leader  of  the  revolt, 
spread  rapidly.  The  colonial  clergy  of  the  English  Church 
were  mostly  foreigners,  and  were  loyal  to  the  British  Crown. 
They  quite  generally  deserted  the  country.  The  Evangelical 
Yirginian  Rector,  Jarratt,  wrote  to  Wesley,  as  late  as  1773, 
that  the  colony  then  had  ninety-five  parishes,  all  of  which, 
except  one,  were  supplied  with  clergymen.  But  he  knew  of 
but  one,  besides  himself,  who  entertained  evangelical  senti- 
ments, and  the  alarm  of  war  was  the  signal  for  their  general 
abandonment  of  their  people.  It  was  this  prostration  of  the 
English  Church  in  the  colonies  that  rendered  necessary — prov- 
idential, it  may  be  said,  without  uncharitableness — the  organ- 
ization of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  as  we  shall  here- 
after see. 

Meanwhile  the  latter  was  relieved,  by  the  Revolution,  of  its 
foreign  missionaries  and  of  foreign  control.  It  was  launched 
upon  the  tide  of  events  to  be  managed  by  native  men,  except 
one,  Asbury,  whose  far-seeing  wisdom  and  generous  sympathy 
with  the  colonial  cause,  if  they  could  not  at  first  completely 
counteract  his  British  loyalty,  so  far  qualified  it  as  to  restrain 
him  from  any  rash  concession  to  it,  and  kept  him  in  the  coun- 
try, till  the  providential  course  of  events  fully  revealed  to  him 
his  duty  to  remain  with  the  infant  Church,  and  at  last  to  recog- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHUPwCH.  m 

nize  heartily  the  liberation  of  the  colonies  as  the  beneficent 
will  of  God.  The  imitation  of  the  example  of  the  Anglo- 
American  clergy  by  the  Anglo-American  Methodist  preachers, 
brought  severe  trials  upon  the  Methodist  ministry  generally. 
'  They  had,"  says  one  of  them,  who  witnessed  their  afflictions, 
"  almost  insupportable  difficulties,  violent  oppositions,  bitter 
persecutions,  and  grievous  sufferings  to  endure.  So  many  of 
the  preachers  being  Englishmen,  and  Wesley,  who  was  con- 
sidered the  founder  and  chief  ruler  of  the  Methodist  Societies, 
being  in  England,  and  known  to  be  loyal  to  his  king,  and  of 
course  unfriendly  to  the  American  measures,  occasioned 
jealousies  and  suspicions  that  the  Methodists  were,  politi- 
cally, a  dangerous  people.  The  way  of  the  preachers  on 
e\ery  side  was  almost  hedged  up ;  and  for  a  considerable 
time  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty,  and  at  the  greatest 
risk  of  personal  safety,  that  they  could  travel  and  preach 
at  all. 

"When  the  times  were  about  the  worst,  Asbury  and  Shadford 
agreed  to  make  it  a  matter  of  fasting  and  prayer  for  direction, 
in  their  straits  and  difficulties,  what  to  do ;  whether  to  stay  in 
the  country,  or  return  to  England.  Shadford  concluded  that  he 
had  an  answer  to  leave  the  country  and  return  to  England  ;  but 
Asbury,  who  received  an  answer  to  stay,  replied,  '  If  you  are 
called  to  go,  I  am  called  to  stay ;  so  here  we  must  part.' 
Accordingly  they  parted,  to  meet  no  more  on  earth.  From 
that  moment  he  made  America  his  country  and  his  home." 

This  same  authority  draws  a  dark  picture  of  the  sufferings 
of  the  ministry  during  these  trying  times.  "I  shall,"  he 
says,  "  principally  confine  myself  to  Maryland,  my  native 
state,  where  I  was  best  acquainted,  and  where  probably 
their  sufferings  were  as  great,  perhaps  greater,  than  in  any 
other  state.  Some  of  the  preachers  were  mulcted  or  fined, 
and  others  were  imprisoned,  for  no  other  offense  than  travel- 
ing and  preaching  the  Gospel ;  and  others  were  bound  over  in 
bonds,  and  heavy  penalties,  and  sureties,  not  to  preach  in  this 
or  that  county.  Several  were  arrested  and  committed  to  the 
common  county  jail;  others  were  personally  insulted  and  badly 
abused ;  some  were  beaten  with  stripes  and  blows  nigh  unto 


112  HISTORY   OF    THE 

death,  and  carried  their  scars  down  to  the  grave.  Garrettson 
was,  for  preaching  the  Gospel,  committed  to  prison  in  one 
county ;  and  severely  beaten  and  wounded,  even  to  the  shed- 
ding of  blood,  in  another.  In  the  city  of  Annapolis,  the 
capital  of  the  state,  Jonathan  Forrest  and  William  Wren,  and 
I  believe  two  or  three  others,  were  committed  to  jail ;  three 
of  the  men  who  were  principally  concerned  in  taking  up  and 
committing  Wren  afterward  became  Methodists,  among  whom 
was  one  of  the  magistrates  who  signed  the  mittimus  for  his 
commitment.  I  knew  them  well,  and  shall  never  forget  the 
serious  and  solemn  time  when  Wren  and  myself,  with  the  man 
who  arrested  him,  dined  at  the  magistrate's  house  after  they 
joined  the  Methodists.  In  Prince  George  County  a  preacher 
was  shamefully  maltreated  by  a  mob ;  '  honored,'  according 
to  the  cant  of  the  times,  '  with  tar  and  feathers.'  In  Queen 
Anne,  Joseph  Hartley  was  bound  over  in  penal  bonds  of  five 
hundred  pounds  not  to  preach  in  the  county.  In  the  same 
county  Freeborn  Garrettson  was  beaten  with  a  stick  by  one  of 
the  county  judges,  and  pursued  on  horseback  till  he  fell  from 
his  horse  and  was  nearly  killed.  In  Talbot  County,  Joseph 
Hartley  was  whipped  by  a  young  lawyer,  and  was  imprisoned 
a  considerable  time.  He  used  to  preach,  during  his  confine- 
ment through  the  grates  or  window  of  the  jail,  to  large  con- 
courses of  people  on  Sabbath  days.  They  frequently  came 
from  ten  to  fifteen  miles  to  hear  him,  and  even  from  other 
counties.  His  confinement  produced  a  great  excitement,  and 
God  overruled  it  for  good  to  the  souls  of  many.  Christ  was 
preached,  and  numbers  embraced  religion.  Even  his  enemies 
at  length  were  glad  to  have  him  discharged.  In  Dorchester, 
Caleb  Pedicord  was  whipped  and  badly  hurt  on  the  public 
road ;  he  carried  his  scars  to  the  grave.  We  might,  perhaps, 
with  propriety  notice  some  other  cases  in  different  counties  and 
states,  both  Xorth  and  South,  of  the  sufferings  both  of  preach- 
ers and  members  ;  but  time  would  fail." 

The  Revolution  prepared  them,  it  has  been  said,  for  their 
organization  as  a  distinct  denomination,  and  opened  before 
them  that  career  of  success  which  at  last  advanced  them  to 
the  van  of  the  Protestantism  of  the  nation.     It  may  indeed  be 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  113 

affirmed  that  American  Methodism  was  born,  and  passed  its 
whole  infancy,  in  the  invigorating  struggle  of  the  Eevolution. 
In  the  year  (1760)  in  which  Embury  and  his  fellow  Palatines 
arrived,  the  Lords  of  Trade  advised  the  taxing  of  the  colonies, 
and  the  agitations  of  the  latter  commenced.  The  next  year 
James  Otis,  the  "  morning  star"  of  the  Eevolution,  began  his 
appeals  in  Boston  for  the  rights  of  the  people.  The  following 
year  the  whole  continent  was  shaken  by  the  royal  interference 
with  the  colonial  judiciary,  especially  at  New  York ;  and  Otis 
attacked,  in  the  Massachusetts  legislature,  the  English  design 
of  taxation  as  planned  by  Charles  Townshend.  Offense  fol- 
lowed offense  from  the  British  ministry,  and  surge  followed 
surge  in  the  agitations  of  the  colonies.  The  year  preceding 
that  in  which  the  John-street  Church  was  formed  is  memorable 
as  the  date  of  the  Stamp  Act ;  the  Church  was  founded  amid 
the  storm  of  excitement  which  compelled  the  repeal  of  the  act 
in  1766 — the  recognized  epoch  of  American  Methodism.  The 
next  year  a  new  act  of  taxation  was  passed  which  stirred  the 
colonies  from  Maine  to  Georgia,  and  "  The  Farmer's  Letters," 
by  John  Dickinson  of  Pennsylvania,  appeared — the  foundation 
rock  of  American  politics  and  American  statesmanship.  In 
two  years  more  the  Massachusetts  legislature  "  planned  resist- 
ance." Samuel  Adams  approved  of  making  the  "appeal  to 
heaven  " — of  war — and  British  ships  and  troops  were  ordered 
to  Boston.  The  first  Annual  Conference  of  American  Meth- 
odism was  held  in  the  stormy  year  (1773)  in  which  the  British 
ministry  procured  the  act  respecting  tea,  which  was  followed 
by  such  resistance  that  the  ships  bringing  that  luxury  were 
not  allowed  to  land  their  cargoes  in  Philadelphia  and  New 
York ;  were  only  allowed  to  store  them,  not  to  sell  them,  in 
South  Carolina,  and  were  boarded  in  Boston  harbor  and  the 
freight  thrown  into  the  sea.  In  the  next  year  the  Boston  Port 
Bill  inflamed  all  the  colonies ;  "  a  General  Congress  "  was  held ; 
Boston  was  blockaded;  Massachusetts  was  in  a  "genera! 
rising ; "  then  came  the  year  of  Lexington,  and  Concord,  and 
Bunker  Hill,  introducing  the  "War  of  Eevolution,"  with  its 
years  of  conflict  and  suffering.  Thus  Methodism  began  its 
history  in  America  in  the  storm  of  the  Eevolution ;  its  English. 

8 


114  HISTORY    OF   THE 

missionaries  were  arriving  or  departing  amid  the  ever  increas- 
ing political  agitation ;  it  was  cradled  in  the  hurricane,  and 
hardened  into  vigorous  youth,  by  the  severities  of  the  times, 
till  it  stood  forth,  the  next  year  after  the  definitive  treaty  of 
peace,  the  organized  "Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America."  Its  almost  continual  growth  in 
such  apparently  adverse  circumstances  is  one  of  the  marvels  of 
religious  history.  In  1776  it  was  equal,  in  both  the  number 
of  its  preachers  and  congregations,  to  the  Lutherans,  the 
German  Reformed,  the  Reformed  Dutch,  the  Associate  Church, 
the  Moravians,  or  the  Roman  Catholics.  At  the  close  of  the 
war  it  ranked  fourth  or  fifth  among  the  dozen  recognized  Chris- 
tian denominations  of  the  country.  During  the  war  it  more 
than  quadrupled  both  its  ministry  and  its  members. 

In  less  than  a  month  after  the  conflicts  of  Lexington  and 
Concord,  while  the  whole  country  resounded  with  the  din  of 
military  preparations,  the  little  company  of  American  itin- 
erants wended  doubtfully  their  way  again  to  Philadelphia  for 
their  third  annual  Conference. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  115 


CHAPTEE  XI. 

LABORS  AND  TRIALS  DURING  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR. 

Asbury  prudently  determined  not  to  compromise  himself, 
with  either  the  home  or  colonial  government,  in  the  contest 
now  beginning.  His  work  was  one :  "  to  promote  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,"  the  kingdom  of  peace,  and  he  wished  to  pur- 
sue his  single  task  with  such  circumspection  that,  whatever 
might  be  the  issue  of  the  struggle,  he  should  remain  unim- 
peachable, and  his  ability  to  continue  his  evangelical  labors 
unimpaired. 

From  the  Conference  at  Philadelphia  in  1775  he  went  by 
sea  to  Norfolk,  Virginia,  his  new  appointment.  "  Here,"  he 
says,  "I  found  about  thirty  persons  in  Society  after  their 
manner;  but  they  had  no  regular  class  meetings."  A  sub- 
scription was  started  for  a  chapel.  Discipline  was  enforced, 
though  "  some  of  the  members  seemed  a  little  refractory  in 
submitting"  to  it.  "But,"  he  characteristically  remarks, 
"  without  discipline  we  should  soon  be  a  rope  of  sand;  so  that 
it  must  be  enforced  let  who  will  be  displeased."  Following 
the  example  of  Wesley,  he  preached  frequently  at  five  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  though,  he  says,  "I  have  constant  inward 
fever  and  drag  a  cumbersome  body  with  me."  He  was  now 
in  the  scene  of  Eobert  Williams's  labors,  the  founder  of  Meth- 
odism in  Virginia.  Williams  had  married  in  the  preceding 
year,  and  settled  on  the  road  between  Norfolk  and  Suffolk. 
He  continued  to  preach  far  and  near,  and  his  house  was  a 
home  and  preaching  place  for  Asbury.  In  the  autumn  of 
1775  he  died ;  Asbury  laid  him  to  rest,  with  a  funeral  sermon, 
and  pronounced  upon  him,  as  we  have  seen,  the  emphatic 
eulogy  "  that  probably  no  man  in  America  had  been  equally 
successful  in  awakening  souls."  The  loss  of  this  useful  man 
was  a  saddening  addition  to  the  calamities  of  the  times  in  the 


116  HISTORY   OF  THE 

little  communion  of  the  Virginia  Methodists.  During  A  sbury'fc 
stay  in  this  region  he  systematized  the  circuit  work,  and 
established  rigid  disciplinary  order  among  his  Societies.  But 
in  the  next  winter  Norfolk  was  burned  down  by  the  royalists, 
and  Methodism  was  extinguished  there  till  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century.  In  1803  Asbury  found  in  the  city  a 
new  chapel,  the  best  in  the  state;  in  Portsmouth  no  Meth- 
odist Church  was  erected  till  1800.  Methodism  took  deep  root 
in  Virginia,  but  the  ravages  of  war  retarded  all  its  plans  for 
permanent  edifices.  Its  people  were  content  to  worship  in 
barns  and  private  houses  till  the  hurricane  had  passed. 

In  November  he  left  Norfolk  for  the  Brunswick  Circuit, 
still  the  scene  of  extraordinary  religious  activity. 

At  the  Conference  of  1775  Shadford  and  four  other  laborers 
had  been  appointed  to  this  field,  and  were  now  sweeping, 
like  flames  of  fire,  over  its  extensive  range.  "  We  added," 
he  says,  "  eighteen  hundred  members,  and  had  good  reason  to 
believe  that  a  thousand  of  them  were  converted  to  God." 

Young  Jesse  Lee  witnessed  this  "  remarkable  "  interest,  as 
his  home  was  one  of  the  preaching  stations  of  the  circuit.  He 
writes  that,  "  In  the  course  of  this  year  there  was  a  gracious 
work  in  several  places,  but  in  none  did  it  equal  that  on  Bruns- 
wick Circuit,  where  George  Shadford  was  traveling  at  that 
time.  It  was  quite  common  for  sinners  to  be  seized  with 
trembling  and  shaking,  and  to  fall  down  as  if  they  were  dead. 
This  work  in  a  very  short  time  spread  through  Dinwiddie, 
Amelia,  Brunswick,  Sussex,  Prince  George,  Lunenberg,  and 
Mecklenberg  Counties.  It  thus  increased  on  every  side ;  more 
preachers  were  soon  wanted ;  and  the  Lord  raised  up  several 
young  men,  who  were  exceedingly  useful  as  local  preachers." 
Lee  himself  was  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  of  these  local 
evangelists.  Such  was  the  success  with  which  the  militant 
Preachers  of  Methodism  pushed  forward  their  conquests  amid 
the  tumults  of  the  Bevolutionary  War.  This  "  Great  Eevival " 
was  as  remarkable,  in  some  respects  more  remarkable,  than 
the  "  Great  Awakening,"  under  Edwards,  in  New  England. 
It  was  more  durable. 

Early  in  January  Asbury  meets  Jarratt,  who  reports  still  a 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  H7 

"great  work"  under  Shadford's  preaching.  The  good  Rector 
unites  with  the  Itinerant  in  holding  a  Watch  Night,  at  which 
they  "stand  about  two  hours  each,"  preaching  to  an  eager 
throng,  among  whom,  says  Asbury,  "there  appeared  a  great 
degree  of  divine  power."  Jarratt  is  with  him  also  at  the 
Quarterly  Conference  of  the  Circuit,  where  the  Rector  preaches, 
and  administers  the  Lord's  Supper.  Asbury,  soon  after,  visits 
his  parsonage  and  finds  in  him  "  an  agreeable  spirit."  After 
spending  about  a  month  in  itinerating  with  him,  Asbury  set 
out  for  the  North,  called  thither  by  Rankin.  On  arriving  in 
Baltimore  the  alarms  of  war  met  him  again;  he  found  the 
city  in  commotion,  caused  by  a  report  that  a  ship-of-war  was 
approaching.  Many  of  the  inhabitants  were  hurrying  out  of 
town.  "  The  congregations,"  he  wrote,  "  were  but  small,  so 
great  has  the  consternation  been.  But  I  know  the  Lord  gov- 
erneth  the  world  ;  therefore  these  things  shall  not  trouble  me. 
I  will  endeavor  to  be  ready  for  life  or  death."  He  was  wel- 
comed to  the  tranquil  retreat  of  Perry  Hall  by  his  friend 
Gough,  and  preached  there  to  a  great  congregation.  On  the 
19th  of  March,  1776,  he  reached  Philadelphia,  having  "  rode 
about  three  thousand  miles  "  since  he  left  it,  on  the  22d  of  the 
preceding  May. 

After  spending  some  months  in  Philadelphia,  rallying  the 
Society  from  the  public  distractions,  and  making  excursions 
into  New  Jersey  and  other  parts  of  the  country,  where  he 
found  the  young  Churches  desolated  by  the  agitations  of  the 
war,  he  passed  southward  again  on  the  last  day  of  May,  1776. 
He  is  welcomed  in  Baltimore,  and  finds  temporary  shelter  at 
Perry  Hall ;  is  refreshed  by  good  news  "  of  the  glorious  spread 
of  the  work  of  God  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  where 
the  Lord  is  still  fulfilling  his  promise,  and  pouring  out  his 
Spirit  on  the  people."  He  preaches  for  Otterbein,  and  remarks 
that  "  there  are  very  few  with  whom  he  can  find  so  much  unity 
and  freedom  in  conversation  as  with  him."  In  one  of  his 
excursions  he  is  arrested,  taken  before  a  magistrate,  and  "  fined 
five  pounds  for  preaching  the  Gospel."  His  health  again  fails, 
through  excessive  travel  and  preaching.  He  goes  to  the  Warm 
Sulphur  Springs  of  Virginia,  accompanied  by  Gough,  of  Perry 


118  HISTORY   OF   THE 

Hall ;  there  he  holds  a  meeting  every  night,  and  preaches  often 
in  the  open  air. 

His  plan  of  relaxation  and  recuperation  here  is  singular 
enough.  He  reads  about  a  hundred  pages  a  day ;  usually 
prays  in  public  five  times  a  day;  preaches  in  the  open  air 
every  other  day ;  and  lectures  in  prayer-meeting  every  even- 
ing. "And,"  he  adds,  "if  it  were  in  my  power  I  would  do  a 
thousand  times  as  much  for  such  a  gracious  and  blessed  Master. 
But,  in  the  midst  of  all  my  little  employments,  I  feel  myself  as 
nothing,  and  Christ  to  me  is  all  in  all." 

Having  spent  six  weeks  at  the  Springs,  he  left  them  for  his 
Baltimore  Circuit,  where  he  resumed  his  travels  with  unrest- 
ing energy.  His  journals  are  characteristically  laconic ;  they 
abound  in  abbreviations  which  obscure,  at  this  late  day,  their 
allusions ;  we  are  perplexed  in  tracing  his  journey ings,  as  he 
hurries  .us  along  from  place  to  place ;  but  we  are  kept  in  ex- 
cited interest  and  wonder,  at  his  hardly  intermitted  movements, 
his  continual  preaching,  in  the  morning  at  a  chapel,  in  the 
afternoon  at  a  barn  or  school-house  ten  or  fifteen  miles  distant, 
in  the  evening  at  a  private  house  twenty  miles  further.  The 
next  day  he  is  early  in  the  saddle  and  again  away  to  other 
fields ;  and  so,  day  after  day,  week  after  week,  year  after  year, 
for  nearly  half  a  century ;  for  with  him  ministerial  zeal  was 
not  a  paroxysm,  but  a  divine  fire  which  kept  his  whole  life 
incandescent  until  he  dropped  at  last  in  the  pulpit,  consumed 
by  it,  or  rather  borne  by  it  away,  as  if  ascending,  like  the 
Hebrew  prophet,  in  a  chariot  of  fire.  Neither  Wesley  nor 
"Whitefield  labored  as  energetically  as  this  obscure  man.  He 
exceeded  them  in  the  extent  of  his  annual  travels,  the  frequency 
of  his  sermons,  and  the  hardships  of  his  daily  life.  His  tem- 
perament was  less  buoyant  than  theirs,  he  was  often  depressed 
by  a  constitutional  sadness,  if  not  melancholy ;  but  he  had  an 
iron  will,  a  profound  conscience,  an  ineffable  sense  of  the  value 
of  the  human  soul,  and  an  invincible  resolution  to  attain  the 
maximum  availability  of  his  life  for  the  eternal  welfare  of  him- 
self and  his  fellow-men.  He  studied  hard  on  his  long  routes-, 
and,  by  his  unaided  endeavors,  became  able  to  read  the  holy 
Scriptures  in  the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek,  and  was  familiar 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  119 

"with  ecclesiastical  and  general  history  and  scientific  theology. 
He  visited  Annapolis  often  about  this  time,  preaching  in  an 
old  theater.  The  war  spirit  menaced  him  in  this  region, 
and  his  friends  could  not  protect  him.  His  chaise  was  shot 
through,  but  he  escaped  unharmed.  It  became  necessary, 
however,  for  him  to  think  of  means  of  safety.  A  pause  is 
reported  in  his  career  of  two  or  more  years,  during  which  he 
is  usually  represented  as  sequestered  from  the  storms  of  the 
Eevolution ;  but  though  it  seemed  to  him  such,  it  was  but  a 
partial  retirement,  for  he  still  had  a  whole  state  for  his  parish 
most  of  the  time.  While  pursuing  his  zealous  course  on  the 
Baltimore  Circuit,  he  received  word  of  the  return  of  Eankin 
to  England ;  Shadford,  to  whom  he  clung  as  David  to  Jonathan, 
was  persuaded  to  tarry,  but  he  also  soon  departed ;  at  last  all 
Wesley's  English  missionaries  but  himself  had  left  the  country 
or  the  denomination.  He  bowed  his  head  in  profound  dejec- 
tion, but  his  will  could  not  be  bowed.  He  still  pursues  his 
work,  though  daily  expecting  to  be  arrested,  for  he  hears  from 
various  directions  of  the  mobbing  and  imprisonment  of  his 
itinerant  brethren,  though  none  but  native  preachers  now  re- 
main with  him.  As  Methodists  they  are  held  responsible  for 
Wesley's  opposition  to  the  Eevolution ;  and  the  mob  and  petty 
magistrates,  swayed  by  political  excitement,  and  many  of  them 
by  sectarian  jealousy,  listen  to  no  remonstrances  or  entreaties. 
The  test-oaths  require  a  pledge  to  take  up  arms,  if  called  upon  to 
do  so  by  the  authorities.  Asbury,  though  well  affected  toward 
the  colonial  cause,  cannot  consent  to  such  a  contingency.  His 
conscience  as  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel  forbids  him.  The  peril 
at  last  comes  nearer  home  to  him.  In  March,  1778,  he  writes, 
in  concealment,  at  the  house  of  his  friend,  Judge  White,  of 
Kent  County,  Del.,  "  I  intend  to  abide  here  for  a  season  till 
the  storm  is  abated."  On  the  2d  of  April  the  light  horse 
patrol  came  to  the  house,  and  seizing  Judge  White,  bore  him 
off,  leaving  his  wife  and  children  with  Asbury  in  great  alarm. 
They  observed  together  the  next  day  as  an  occasion  of  fasting 
and  prayer.  On  Saturday,  April  4,  Asbury  says :  "  This  was 
a  day  of  much  divine  power  and  love  to  my  soul.  I  was  left 
alone,  and  spent  part  of  every  hour  in  prayer;  and  Christ  was 


120  HISTORY    OF    THE 

near  and  very  precious."  He  retreated  into  a  neighboring 
swamp  for  some  days,  but  returned  to  his  hospitable  shelter. 
"  From  this  place  of  retreat,"  says  Cooper,  "  he  could  correspond 
with  his  brethren  who  were  scattered  abroad.  He  could  also 
occasionally  travel  about,  visiting  the  Societies,  and  sometimes 
preach  to  the  people.  He  was  accessible  to  all  the  preachers 
and  his  friends  who  came  to  see  him  ;  so  that  by  means  of  cor- 
respondence and  visits  they  could  communicate  with  one 
another  for  mutual  counsel,  comfort,  and  encouragement.  In 
some  of  their  movements  they  had  to  be  very  cautious ;  for 
they  wrere  watched  as  the  partridge  is  watched  by  the  hawk 
on  the  mountains.  Among  those  wThose  particular  confidence 
he  secured  we  might  mention,  with  Judge  White,  the  pious 
Judge  Barrett,  both  of  whom  opened  their  houses  for  the 
brethren  as  homes,  and  protected  the  preachers,  and  exerted 
their  influence  in  support  of  religion.  Each  of  them  was 
instrumental  in  having  a  preaching  house  built  in  his  respect- 
ive neighborhood,  which  to  this  day  are  called  White's  Meet- 
ing-house and  Barrett's  Chapel.  We  may  also  mention  the 
late  Richard  Bassett,  Esq.,  well  known  as  a  distinguished 
character,  not  only  in  the  state  but  in  the  United  States.  At 
different  times  he  filled  high  and  honorable  stations.  He  was 
a  lawyer  of  note,  a  legislator,  judge,  and  a  governor  of  Dela- 
ware. He  was  also  a  member  of  the  convention  which  framed 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  a  senator  in  the  first 
Congress,  and  a  judge  of  the  United  States  Court  for  the  Cir- 
cuit comprising  the  Districts  of  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey, 
and  Delaware.  They  found  Asbury  to  be  a  safe  and  a  good 
citizen,  a  circumspect  Christian,  and  a  faithful  minister  of  the 
Gospel,  worthy  of  confidence  as  a  friend  to  the  country  of  his 
choice,  of  which  he  had  voluntarily  become  a  citizen." 

Asbury's  retirement,  so  called,  was  a  period  of  no  little 
labor.  He  was  closely  confined  only  about  five  weeks,  and 
there  were  but  eleven  in  which  he  did  not  travel  more  or  less. 
Through  the  first  year  he  ventured  not  far  from  home ;  but, 
besides  preaching  occasionally,  he  frequently  held  meetings 
for  prayer  and  exhortation  among  his  friendly  neighbors. 
The  preachers  often  met  him  in  the  hospitable  family  of  Judge 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  121 

"White,  and  he  privately  held  with  them  there  a  Conference  in 
1779.  He  gradually  ventured  to  preach  more  openly;  and 
during  the  second  year  of  what  he  considered  his  confinement, 
the  whole  state  of  Delaware  was  his  Circuit ;  the  Conference 
which  had  furtively  met  at  Judge  White's  house  having 
appointed  him  to  it  and  designated  the  appointment  in  the 
Minutes.  The  mansion  of  his  friend  was  his  head-quarters ; 
it  was  not  expedient  for  him  to  be  absent  for  a  long  time  from 
it ;  it  was  usually  his  shelter  by  night,  but  his  ministerial  ex- 
cursions were  made  almost  daily.  The  family  which  thus 
gave  refuge  to  him  and  to  not  a  few  of  his  brethren  during 
this  stormy  period  was  notable  in  the  early  days  of  Methodism. 
Like  that  of  Gough,  at  Perry  Hall,  of  Bassett,  at  Bohemia 
Manor,  and  of  Barrett,  at  "  Barrett's  Chapel,"  its  name  con- 
tinually recurs  in  the  Journals  of  Asbury,  Coke,  Garret tson, 
Abbott,  and  in  other  early  Methodist  publications. 

Protected  by  his  influential  friends,  Asbury  was  at  last  en- 
abled to  emerge  out  of  his  comparative  obscurity  in  Delaware, 
after  spending  there  two  years  and  one  month.  He  came 
forth  to  be  the  hero  of  American  Methodist  history  through 
all  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  had  been  found  faithful  when 
all  his  British  associates  had  retreated  from  the  stormy  arena. 
The  native  preachers  now  not  only  revered,  but  loved  him. 
Some  of  them  had  penetrated  to  his  retreat,  as  we  have  seen ; 
they  there  declared  him  their  "general  assistant"  or  superin- 
tendent, as  Eankin  had  abdicated  that  office  by  leaving  the 
country.  And  now  began  those  incredible  tours  over  the 
continent,  averaging  two  a  year,  for  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
which,  with  his  daily  preaching  in  chapels,  court-houses,  barns, 
private  houses,  or  the  open  air,  present  perhaps  the  most  ex- 
traordinary example  of  ministerial  labor  in  the  history  of  the 
Church,  ancient  or  modern.  His  meager  Journals  give  us 
few  details ;  the  biographer  or  historian  is  at  a  loss  to  sketch 
his  courses  from  the  slight  jottings  of  the  record ;  the  reader 
is  bewildered  with  the  rapidity  of  his  movements ;  but  through 
them  all  the  tireless,  the  invincible,  the  gigantic  apostle  ap- 
pears, planning  grandly  and  as  grandly  executing  his  plans; 
raising  up  hosts  of  preachers;   forming  new  Churches,  new 


122  HISTOKY    OF    TIIE 

Circuits,  and  new  Conferences;  extending  his  denomination 
north,  south,  east,  west,  till  it  becomes,  before  his  death,  coex- 
tensive with  the  nation,  and  foremost,  in  energy  and  success, 
of  all  American  religious  communions. 

He  hastens  southward  and  averts  a  schism  likely  to  have 
been  occasioned  by  the  clamorous  demand  of  people  and 
preachers  for  the  sacraments.  He  journeys  to  and  fro  in 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  He  finds  it  necessary  to  use 
two  horses  on  this  difficult  route.  He  returns  northward 
through  Virginia,  Maryland,  Delaware,  Pennsylvania,  New 
Jersey,  meeting  his  fellow-laborers  in  Quarterly  and  Annual 
Conferences,  and  inspiriting  the  Churches.  He  rejoices  to 
greet  Jarratt  again,  but  still  more  to  find,  all  along  his  route, 
zealous  native  preachers  rising  up  to  extend  the  Church.  He 
sees  Abbott  for  the  first  time,  and  says  "his  word  comes  with 
great  power ;  the  people  fall  to  the  ground  under  it,  and  sink 
into  a  passive  state,  helpless,  motionless ;  he  is  a  man  of  un- 
common zeal,  and  (although  his  language  has  somewhat  of  incor- 
rectness) of  good  utterance."  •  He  learns  as  he  presses  onward 
that  "  there  is  daily  a  great  turning  to  God  in  new  places,  and 
that  the  work  of  sanctification  goes  on  in  our  old  Societies." 
In  about  ten  months  he  travels  about  four  thousand  miles, 
over  the  worst  roads,  and  preaches  upon  an  average  a  sermon 
a  day.  In  May,  1781,  he  hastens  southward  again,  and  is  soon 
penetrating  the  wilderness.  He  continues  during  the  ensuing 
three  years  to  fly  like  the  apocalyptic  angel,  "  having  the 
everlasting  Gospel  to  preach"  over  all  the  central  parts  of  the 
continent,  from  New  York  to  North  Carolina.  "  The  Lord," 
he  writes,  "  is  my  witness  that  if  my  whole  body,  yea,  every 
hair  of  my  head,  could  labor  and  suffer,  they  should  be  freely 
given  up  for  God  and  souls." 

In  November,  1784,  weary  and  worn  by  travel  and  preach- 
ing, he  arrived,  on  Sunday,  during  public  worship,  at  his 
friend  Barrett's  Chapel.  A  man  of  small  stature,  ruddy  com- 
plexion, brilliant  eyes,  long  hair,  feminine  but  musical  voice, 
and  gowned  as  an  English  clergyman,  was  officiating.  Asbury 
ascended  the  pulpit  and  embraced  and  kissed  him  before  the 
whole  assembly,  for  the  itinerant  recognized  him  as  another 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  123 

messenger  from  "Wesley,  come  to  his  relief  after  the  desertion 
of  all  his  English  associates;  a  man  who,  though  of  dwarfish 
body,  had  an  immeasurable  soul,  and  had  become  a  chieftain 
of  Methodism  in  England,  Ireland,  and  Wales,  only  second  to 
Wesley  himself.  Asbury  knew  not  yet  the  full  import  of  his 
mission ;  but  after  his  labors  and  sufferings,  as  Wesley's  soli- 
tary representative  in  America,  any  such  visitor  was  to  him 
like  an  angel  from  heaven,  and  he  knew  the  man  too  well  to 
doubt  that  his  presence  in  the  New  World  would  make  an  era 
in  its  struggling  Methodism.  This  little  man,  of  gigantic  spirit, 
whom  Asbury,  mourning  his  death  years  afterward,  was  to 
characterize  as  "  the  greatest  man  of  the  last  century  in  Chris- 
tian labors,"  not  excepting  Whitefield  or  Wesley,  represented, 
in  the  humble  pulpit  of  Barrett's  Chapel,  the  most  momentous 
revolution  in  American  Methodism.  He  was  the  "Rev. 
Thomas  Coke,  LL.D.,  late  of  Jesus  College,  Oxford,"  but  now 
the  first  Protestant  bishop  of  the  western  hemisphere.  Great 
events  were  at  hand;  but  before  introducing  the  stranger 
more  fully  upon  the  scene,  it  is  expedient  that  we  cast  our 
glance  repeatedly  back  again  over  our  present  period,  for  other 
and  extraordinary  men  were  abroad,  laying  deeply  and  widely 
the  foundations  of  the  coming  reconstruction ;  men,  some  of 
whose  once  humble  names  become  more  and  more  illustriously 
historical  as  the  results  of  their  self-sacrificing  labors  still  de- 
velop in  the  progress  of  the  denomination. 

Young  Watters  was  abundant  in  labors  and  patient  in 
trials  during  this  troubled  period.  He  went  from  the  Phila- 
delphia Conference  of  1775  to  the  Frederick  Circuit,  Md.  It 
extended  over  a  region  which  might  still  be  called  the  frontier. 
The  roads  were  difficult,  the  settlements  very  scattered,  the  hab- 
itations mostly  log-cabins,without  conveniences  for  the  sojourner. 
Watters  went  to  proclaim  his  message  through  this  wilderness, 
desponding  often  on  his  route,  but  he  was  refreshed  at  last  by 
unexpected  success.  About  midsummer  a  spiritual  awakening 
appeared  in  almost  every  appointment  of  his  circuit. 

The  changes  of  preachers  from  circuit  to  circuit  were  still 
semi-annual.  After  six  months  of  unremitted  labors,  during 
which  scores  of  converts  were  gathered  into  the  Church,  Wat- 


124  HISTORY    OF    THE 

ters  departed  for  Fairfax  Circuit,  Va.,  where,  notwithstanding 
the  prevalent  political  and  military  agitations,  his  powerful 
ministrations  bore  down  all  before  him  over  at  least  two  thirds 
of  his  circuit,  a  flame  of  "  revival  kindling  and  spreading 
from  appointment  to  appointment."  "  In  less  than  a  quarter," 
he  writes,  "  we  had  the  greatest  revival  I  had  ever  seen  in  any 
place.  If  ever  I  was  enabled  to  labor  for  the  salvation  of 
souls,  it  was  now."  There  were  some  "  very  astonishing 
instances  of  the  mighty  power  of  God  in  the  conversion  of 
respectable  persons;"  among  whom  he  mentions,  as  one  of 
his  trophies,  Nelson  Keed,  destined  to  be  a  standard-bearer  in 
the  itinerant  ministry.  Down  to  the  end  of  1783  he  continued 
to  travel  in  Maryland  and  Virginia  with  a  zeal  that  knew  no 
abatement,  and  a  success  hardly  excelled  by  any  evangelist  of  the 
denomination — often  in  new  circuits  in  mountainous  regions, 
his  lodging  in  log-cabins,  his  chapels  barns,  his  health  broken 
so  much  that,  three  or  four  times,  his  brethren  expected  to 
bury  him,  a  martyr  to  his  work.  He  was  one  of  the  few  itiner- 
ants who  had  families,  and  in  1783  he  was  compelled  to  locate, 
but  he  still  labored  indefatigably,  one  of  his  regular  appoint- 
ments being  at  least  forty  miles  distant  from  his  home,  another 
thirty.  Not  only  many,  but  most  of  the  itinerants  of  those 
early  times  had,  sooner  or  later,  to  locate  on  account  of  their 
worn-out  health  or  domestic  embarrassments ;  but  they  con- 
tinued to  perform  more  laborious  service  in  the  ministry  than 
most  of  their  itinerant  successors,  and  the  early  outspread  of 
Methodism  through  the  land  is  scarcely  less  attributable  to  their 
zeal  than  to  that  of  the  "  regular  "  Preachers.  Hardly  had 
Watters  located  when  he  was  cheered  by  news  of  the  arrival 
of  Coke,  with  authority  from  Wesley  to  organize  the  Church. 
The  first  native  itinerant,  he  had  served  faithfully  through 
most  of  the  forming  period  of  the  young  denomination  ;  he 
was  now  to  see  it  take  organic  and  permanent  form. 

It  was  in  the  present  period  that  Freeborn  Garrettson  began 
that  memorable  ministerial  career  which  was  to  extend  over 
more  than  half  a  century,  and  to  leave  historical  and  inefface- 
able traces  on  the  Church  from  North  Carolina  to  Nova  Scotia. 
He  was  of  an  influential  family  of  Maryland,  a  descendant  of 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  125 

the  first  settlers  of  that  province ;  the  possessor  of  lands  and 
slaves ;  a  young  man  of  firm  but  amiable  character.  Straw- 
bridge,  as  we  have  seen,  was  abroad  in  Maryland,  and  Garrett- 
son  met  him  and  other  itinerants.  Their  message  was,  at  first, 
a  mystery  to  him  ;  yet  he  believed  "  they  preached  the  truth," 
and  he  "  dared  not  to  join  with  the  multitude  in  persecuting 
them."  Asbury  passed  through  the  neighborhood,  and  the 
awakened  youth  heard  him  with  delight,  following  him  from 
place  to  place,  "  fully  persuaded  that  he  was  a  servant  of 
God,"  and  surprised  to  hear  him  preach  in  a  manner  that 
seemed  to  imply  a  knowledge  of  the  inmost  troubles  of  his 
own  soul.  Watters,  Webster,  Rollins,  and  other  evangelists 
crossed  his  path;  "revivals"  broke  out  and  persecutions  fol- 
lowed. Garrettson's  father  became  alarmed  for  him,  and  the 
young  man's  "  name  was  already  cast  out  as  evil  though  he 
had  made  no  open  avowal  of  Methodism."  Under  the 
preaching  of  Daniel  Ruff,  he  was  "  so  oppressed  that  he  could 
scarcely  support  his  burden ; "  and  riding  homeward  through 
a  lonely  wood,  agonized  by  the  sense  of  his  sinfulness,  and  of 
the  necessity  of  regeneration,  he  dismounted  and  began  to 
pray.  But  his  prayer  was  for  forbearance  that  he  might  yet 
delay  till  a  more  convenient  season.  Resuming  his  ride,  he 
was  again  arrested  with  an  overpowering  consciousness  that 
"  now  is  the  accepted  time,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation."  "  I 
threw,"  he  says,  "  the  reins  of  my  bridle  on  the  horse's  neck, 
and,  putting  my  hands  together,  cried  out,  <  Lord,  I  submit ! ' 
I  was  less  than  nothing  in  my  own  sight,  and  was  now,  for  the 
first  time,  reconciled  to  the  justice  of  God.  The  enmity  of  my 
heart  was  slain,  the  plan  of  salvation  was  open  to  me.  I  saw 
a  beauty  in  the  perfections  of  the  Deity,  and  felt  that  power 
of  faith  and  love  that  I  had  been  a  stranger  to.  My  soul  was 
so  exceeding  happy  that  I  seemed  as  if  I  wanted  to  take  wing 
and  fly  away  to  heaven." 

On  reaching  home  he  called  his  family  together  for  prayer, 
and  not  many  days  after,  while  about  to  lead  their  devotions, 
he  gave  one  of  the  best  proofs  of  the  genuineness  of  his  new 
faith.  He  declared  to  all  his  slaves  their  freedom,  convinced 
that  "  it  is  not  right  to  keep  our  fellow-creatures  in  bondage." 


126  HISTORY   OF   THE 

"  Till  then,"  he  adds,  "  I  had  never  suspected  that  slavekeeping 
is  wrong ;  I  had  never  read  a  book  on  the  subject,  nor  been 
told  so  by  any  one.  It  was  God,  not  man,  that  taught  me  the 
impropriety  of  holding  slaves,  and  I  shall  never  be  able  to 
praise  him  enough  for  it.  My  very  heart  has  bled  since  that 
time  for  slaveholders,  especially  those  who  make  a  profession 
of  religion  ;  for  I  believe  it  to  be  a  crying  sin."  It  was  while 
standing  in  the  midst  of  his  family  and  slaves,  with  a  hymn 
book  in  his  hand,  beginning  their  family  worship,  that  he 
pronounced  his  servants  free.  They  all  knelt  before  their 
common  God  as  his  common  children.  The  devout  young 
man,  following  thus  a  conscientious  intuition  of  his  purified 
mind,  experienced  at  once  the  inexpressible  consolation  of 
such  well-doing ;  "  a  divine  sweetness,"  he  says,  "  ran  through 
my  whole  frame."  "  Had  I  the  tongue  of  an  angel  I  could  not 
describe  what  I  felt." 

And  now,  like  most  Methodists  of  that  day,  he  "  went  about 
doing  good,"  with  no  definite  idea  of  preaching,  but  "  bearing 
his  testimony  "  for  what  God  had  done  for  him.  He  held 
meetings  at  his  own  house,  at  that  of  his  brother,  and  at 
others ;  he  thus  became  an  Exhorter  even  before  he  had 
formally  joined  the  Church.  He  formed  classes.  Eodda  took 
him  at  last  out  upon  his  circuit,  and  he  thus  undesignedly 
became  a  Preacher.  He  was  attacked  by  ruffians,  smitten  on 
the  face,  mobbed,  and  summoned  to  drill  as  a  soldier.  When 
carried  before  a  military  officer  he  told  his  "  experience,"  and 
sat  on  his  horse  "  exhorting  with  tears  "  a  thousand  people ; 
the  court  martial  dismissed  him  with  a  fine  of  twelve  dollars 
and  a  half  a  year,  but  he  was  never  called  upon  to  pay  it. 
He  soon  had  appointments  in  every  direction. 

At  the  Conference  of  1776  Garrettson  was  received  on  trial, 
and  appointed  to  Frederick  Circuit.  Three  different  times 
he  turned  his  horse  toward  his  home,  from  his  new  field, 
desponding  under  his  diffidence  and  the  hardships  of  his  work ; 
but  prayer  in  the  solitary  woods,  extraordinary  impressions  of 
his  discourses  awakening  his  hearers,  or  providential  impedi- 
ments, deterred  him,  and  at  last  confirmed  him  in  his  lifelong 
mission  of  labor  and  sacrifice.     A  score  were  sometimes  con- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUECH.  127 

verted  and  added  to  the  feeble  Societies  of  the  circuit  at  a 
single  meeting.  In  six  months  *he  went  to  Fairfax  Circuit. 
He  extended  his  travels  far  up  the  Potomac  to  what  was 
called  New  Virginia,  where  his  labors  were  greatly  successful. 
He  was  sent,  the  next  year,  to  the  famous  Brunswick  Circuit, 
with  "Watters ;  there  of  course  he  had  triumphant  times,  large 
congregations,  overwhelming  effects  of  the  word,  meetings 
held  in  barns,  or  under  the  trees,  which  reminded  him  of  the 
Pentecostal  assembly  of  the  Apostles.  He  penetrated  south- 
ward into  North  Carolina.  He  failed  not  to  inculcate  his 
opinions  of  slavery,  and  preached  often  to  the  slaves,  weeping 
with  them  in  their  wrongs,  rejoicing  with  them  in  their  spirit- 
ual consolations.  He  was  menaced  by  persecutors,  interrupted 
sometimes  in  his  sermons,  threatened  by  armed  men,  and  one 
of  his  friends  was  shot  (but  not  mortally)  for  entertaining  him ; 
"  but,"  he  says,  "  the  consolations  afforded  me  were  an  ample 
compensation  for  all  the  difficulties  I  met  with  wandering  up 
and  down."  His  next  circuit  was  Kent,  Md.,  where  he  was 
exposed  to  those  political  and  military  hostilities  which  pre- 
vailed against  the  Methodists.  One  of  his  colleagues,  Hartley, 
was  imprisoned,  the  others  were  dispersed,  and  he  was  left 
alone  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  persecution. 

"  God  enabled  me  to  go  forward,"  writes  Garrettson, 
"through  good  and  through  evil  report;  he  stood  by  me, 
and  I  went  on  without  fear."  His  friends  in  Kent  entreated 
him  not  to  hazard  his  life  by  traveling  at  large ;  but  he  "  trav- 
eled through  the  country  preaching  once,  twice,  thrice,  and 
sometimes  four  sermons  a  day  to  listening  multitudes  bathed 
in  tears." 

At  one  time  he  was  near  receiving  the  honors  of  martyrdom. 
Being  unmolested  in  the  congregation  he  deemed  himself  safe, 
notwithstanding  he  had  been  threatened  privately  with  im- 
prisonment. But  on  riding  away  he  was  met  by  an  opposer, 
formerly  a  judge  of  the  county,  who  struck  him  on  the  head 
with  a  bludgeon.  The  itinerant  attempted  to  escape,  but  was 
overtaken  by  the  swifter  horse  of  his  assailant,  and,  struck 
again,  fell  senseless  to  the  ground.  He  was  carried  to  a 
neighboring  house'  and  bled  by   a  person,  who,  passing  by, 


128  HISTORY   OF    TIIE 

providential^  had  a  lancet.     It  was  supposed  he  could  live 
but  a  few  minutes ;  "  the  heavens,"  he  writes,  "  seemed  in  a 
very  glorious  manner  opened,  and  by  faith  I  saw  my  Eedeemer 
standing  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Father  pleading  my  cause. 
I  was  so  happy  that  I  could  scarcely  contain  myself."     The 
ruffian  who  assailed  him  seemed  to  relent,  and  sat  by  his  bed- 
side listening  to  his  exhortations,  and  offered  to  carry  him  in 
his  own  carriage  wherever  he  wished  to  go.     The  itinerant 
was   cited,   however,  before   a   magistrate,    who    boisterously 
charged  him  with  violating  the  laws.     "  Be  assured,"  replied 
Garrettson,  "  this  matter  will  be  brought  to  light  in  an  awful 
eternity."     The  pen  dropped  from  the  magistrate's  hand,  and 
the  preacher  was  allowed  to  retire.     Taken  into  a  carriage 
by  the  friendly  passenger  who  had  bled  him,  he  was  safely 
borne  away,  and  that  night  was  again  preaching  in  a  private 
house,  though  his  bed  was  his  pulpit.     He  suffered  very  little 
opposition  in  the  county  afterward.     The  next  day  he  rode 
many  miles  and  preached  twice,  his  "face  bruised,  scarred, 
and  bedewed  with  tears ;"   his  hearers  were  deeply  affected, 
and  his  own  soul  was  triumphant  with  grateful  joy  that  he 
could  suffer  for  Christ.     "  It  seemed,"  he  writes,  "  as  if  I  could 
have  died  for  him."     In  a  few  days  he  returned  courageously 
to  the  place  of  his  sufferings,  and  preached  to  a  numerous  and 
deeply  affected  concourse  of  people.     He  had  conquered  the 
field. 

He  afterward  traversed  the  State  of  Delaware,  preaching 
with  remarkable  power.  Again  he  returned  to  Maryland, 
"and  the  work  of  the  Lord  went  on  prosperously."  He 
founded  societies,  introduced  Methodism  into  many  new  fields, 
and  such  was  the  peculiar  energy  and  pathos  with  which  he 
preached,  that  his  journal  is  almost  a  continuous  record  of 
"  melted  congregations,"  "  powerful  awakenings,"  (in  which 
not  a  few  hearers  were  smitten  down  to  the  ground.)  conquered 
opposers,  and  prolonged  meetings,  from  which  the  eager  mul- 
titude could  hardly  be  persuaded  to  retire. 

He  began  his  labors  in  Dover  amid  a  storm  of  opposition  in 
the  latter  part  of  1778.  He  had  been  invited  thither  by  a 
gentleman  who  had  been  profited  by  his  ministry  elsewhere. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  129 

Hardly  had  he  dismounted  from  his  horse  when  the  mob  gath- 
ered, crying  out,  "  He  is  a  Tory ;  hang  him,  hang  him  !" 
while  others  shouted  in  his  defense.  Hundreds  of  clamorous 
voices  resounded  around  him.  "I  was  in  a  fair  way,"  he  says, 
k'  to  be  torn  in  pieces."  He  was  rescued,  however,  by  some 
friendly  gentlemen,  one  of  whom,  taking  him  by  the  hand 
and  leading  him  to  the  steps  of  the  academy,  bade  him  preach, 
and  declared  he  would  stand  by  him.  The  evangelist  cried 
aloud  to  the  multitude.  He  was  heard  through  most  of  the 
town.  The  crowd  wept.  One  person  sitting  in  a  window,  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  distant,  was  alarmed  by  the  truth,  and 
afterward  converted.  More  than  twenty  of  his  hearers  were 
awakened.  The  ringleader  of  the  mob  repented  and  betook 
himself  to  the  reading  of  the  Bible,  and  "  never  again  perse- 
cuted the  children  of  God."  Garrettson  preached  repeatedly 
in  the  town,  formed  a  Society,  and  "the  Lord  was  with  them, 
spreading  his  word  and  converting  many  souls." 

He  went  into  Sussex  County,  and  at  Broad  Creek  preached 
to  hundreds  in  a  wood.  They  were  a  notoriously  vicious 
people  :  "  swearers,  fighters,  drunkards,  horseracers,  gamblers, 
and  dancers."  They  now  wept  around  him,  as  he  declared, 
"  I  saw  the  dead,  both  small  and  great,  stand  before  God,"  etc.. 
More  than  thirty  "  were  powerfully  awakened,"  all  of  whom 
were  joined  in  a  Society.  One  of  his  hearers  afterward 
attempted  to  shoot  him,  coming  into  the  audience  with  a 
pistol  for  the  purpose,  but  was  prevented.  The  whole  neigh- 
borhood was  reformed,  and  Methodism  effectually  planted 
there.  "A  hearer  from  Salisbury  was  converted,  and  opened 
the  way  for  his  preaching  in  that  town.  Garrettson  was 
threatened  by  leading  townsmen  with  imprisonment..  The 
sheriff  came  to  seize  him,  but  was  confounded  and  left.  him.. 
Methodism  was  thus  founded  in  Salisbury. 

After  spending  some  fifteen  months  on  the  Peninsula,  at  the 
end  of  which  nearly  thirteen  hundred  members  of  Society 
were  returned  to  the  Conference  from  Delaware  and  Kent: 
County,  Garrettson  passed  northward.  In  1780  he  was  ap- 
pointed, with  two  colleagues,  to  New  Jersey.  He  there: 
preached  from  ten  to  twelve  sermons  a  week.     In  the  autumn 

9 


130  HISTORY   OF    THE 

we  find  him  again  on  the  Peninsula  founding  the  denomination 
in  Dorchester  County.  A  young  lady  of  the  county,  sister-in- 
law  *to  Bassett,  of  Bohemia  Manor,  had  been  converted  while 
visiting  his  family,  and  on  her  return  had  borne  good  and 
effectual  testimony  for  her  new  faith  among  her  kindred. 
Henry  Airey,  a  gentleman  of  influence  and  a  magistrate,  was 
awakened  by  her  conversation,  and  further  led  into  a  religious 
life  by  his  friend  Judge  White.  The  way  was  thus  opened 
for  the  establishment  of  Methodism  in  the  county.  Garrettson 
visited  Airey's  home  and  preached  with  great  effect.  The 
lady  of  the  house  and  many  of  the  black  servants  were  con- 
verted. After  spending  several  davs  with  them  he  resumed 
his  journey,  accompanied  by  Airey,  but  was  attacked  on  the 
highway  by  a  mob,  who  beat  his  horse,  and  clamorously  as- 
sailed him  with  blasphemies.  After  dark  they  bore  him  before 
a  magistrate,  who  ordered  him  to  prison.  Airey  and  some  of 
his  friends  started  on  'before  toward  the  jail.  As  his  assailants 
were  conducting  Garrettson  along  the  highway,  a  sudden  flash 
of  lightning  dispersed  them  and  he  was  left  alone.  "I  was  re- 
minded," he  says,  "  of  that  place  of  Scripture  where  our  Lord's 
enemies  fell  to  the  ground,  and  then  this  portion  of  Scripture 
came  to  me,  i  Stand  still  and  see  the  salvation  of  God.'  It  was 
a  very  dark,  cloudy  night,  and  had  rained  a  little.  I  sat  on  my 
horse  alone,  and  though  I  called  several  times  there  was  no 
answer.  I  went  on,  but  had  -not  got  far  before  I  met  my 
friend  Airey  returning  to  look  for  me.  He  had  accompanied 
me  throughout  the  whole  of  this  affair.  "We  rode  on,  talking 
of  the  goodness  of  God,  till  we  came  to  a  little  cottage  by  the 
roadside,  where  we  found  two  of  my  guards  almost  frightened 
out  of  their  wits.  I  told  them  if  I  was  to  go  to  jail  that  night 
we  ought  to  be  on  our  way,  for  it  was  getting  late.  '  O  no  ! ' 
said  one  of  them,  '  let  us  stay  until  the  morning.'  My  friend 
and  I  rode  on,  and  it  was  not  long  ere  we  had  a  beautiful  clear 
night.  We  had  not  gone  far  before  the  company  collected 
again,  from  whence  I  know  not.  However,  they  appeared  to 
be  amazingly  intimidated,  and  the  leader  rode  by  the  side  of 
me,  and  said,  '  Sir,  do  you  think  the  affair  happened  on  our 
account  ? '     I  told  him  that  I  would  have  him  judge  for  him- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  131 

self;  reminding  him  of  the  awfulness  of  the  day  of  judgment, 
and  the  necessity  there  was  of  preparing  to  meet  the  Judge  of 
the  whole  earth.     One  of  the  company  swore  an  oath,  and 
another  immediately  reproved  him,  saying,  '  How  can  you 
swear  at  such   a  time   as   this?'     At   length  the    company 
stopped,  and  one  said,  i  We  had  better  give  him  up  for  the 
present ; '  so  they  turned  their  horses  and  went  back.     My 
friend  and  I  pursued  our  way.     True  it  is,  '  The  wicked  are 
like  the  troubled  sea,  whose  waters  cast  up  mire  and  dirt.' 
We  had  not  gone  far  before  they  pursued  us  again,  and  said, 
'We  cannot  give  him  up.'      They   accompanied  us   a  few 
minutes,  again  left  us,  and  we  saw  no  more  of  them  that 
night."     The  next  day,  Sunday,  they  reappeared,  twenty  in 
number,  headed  by  an  aged  man  "  with  locks  as  white  as  a 
sheet,"  and  a  pistol  in  his  hand.     They  seized  the  evangelist 
while  preaching.     He  was  borne   away   to   Cambridge  jail, 
where,  during  a  fortnight,  "  I  had,"  he  says,  "  a  dirty  floor  for 
my  bed,  my  saddle-bags  for  my  pillow,  and  two  large  windows 
open,  with  a  cold  east  wind  blowing  upon  me;    but  I  had 
great  consolation  in  my  Lord,  and  could  say,  'Thy  will  be 
done.'     Sweet  moments  I  had  with  my  dear  friends,  who  came 
to  the  prison  window.     Many,  both  acquaintances  and  stran- 
gers, came  to  visit  me  from  far  and  near,  and  I  really  believe 
I  never  was  the  means  of  doing  more  good  for  the  time.     The 
word  of  the  Lord  spread  through  all  that  country,  and  hun- 
dreds, both  white  and  black,  have  experienced  the  love   of 
Jesus.     Since  that  time  I  have  preached  to  more  than  three 
thousand  people  in  one  congregation,  not  far  from  the  place 
where  I  was  imprisoned,  and  many  of  my  worst  enemies  have 
bowed  to  the  scepter  of  our  sovereign  Lord."     In  fine,  this 
county  presented,  at  -first,  the  most  formidable  resistance  to 
Methodism  of  any  in  the  state,  but  was  the  most  completely 
conquered.     After  about  two  years'  labors,  it  reported  nearly 
eight   hundred   Methodists;    "and,"   says    a   late    authority, 
"  Methodism  has  long  been  honored  here ;    there  are  but  few 
professors  of  religion  that  belong  to  any  other  than  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church." 

In  1780  Garrettson  labored  on  Baltimore  Circuit  with  his 


132  HISTORY    OF   THE 

usual  success.  In  the  same  year  he  made  an  excursion  to 
Little  York  in  Pennsylvania,  and  there,  amid  a  mixed  popu- 
lation of  German,  and  English,  with  a  greater  variety  of  relig- 
ious sects  than  he  had  ever  found  elsewhere,  and  no  small 
amount  of  disputation  and  hostility,  he  preached  for  two 
months,  with  extraordinary  results,  in  more  than  twenty 
places,  and  more  than  three  hundred  people  were  awakened. 
The  next  year  he  was  sent  into  Yirginia,  where  Jarratt  re- 
ceived him  cordially.  At  Maybery's  Chapel  he  addressed  two 
thousand  people,  not  forgetting  to  remonstrate  with  them 
about  slavery ;  he  formed  new  circuits,  hastened  about  among 
the  old  circuits,  and,  wherever  he  went,  spread  a  quickening 
sensation  among  the  suffering  Societies.  In  1781  he  traveled 
about  five  thousand  miles,  preached  about  five  hundred  ser- 
mons, visited  most  of  the  circuits  in  Yirginia  and  North  Caro- 
lina, and  opened  one  new  circuit,  "  in  which  the  Lord  began  a 
blessed  work,  so  that  many,  both  rich  and  poor,  joined  the 
Society." 

During  the  remainder  of  our  present  period  he  traveled  and 
preached  incessantly  in  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Dela- 
ware, and  found  the  Churches  prospering  in  the  hard-fought 
fields  which  he  had  won,  through  so  many  persecutions,  within 
the  preceding  six  or  eight  years.  At  Dover,  the  scene  of  one 
of  his  severest  trials,  he  rejoiced,  in  1783,  over  a  successful 
Church,  Bassett  and  his  family  being  now  among  its  chief 
supporters.  In  the  autumn  he  was  about  to  depart  to  the 
Carolinas,  determined  to  push  the  triumphs  of  the  Gospel 
to  the  furthest  South ;  but  he  was  suddenly  arrested  by  the 
news  of  Coke's  arrival,  and  the  important  events  which  were 
immediately  to  follow.  Coke  soon  reached  him,  at  the  house 
of  Bassett,  in  Dover,  and  says :  "  Here  I  met  with  an  excellent 
young  man,  Freeborn  Garrettson.  He  seems  to  be  all  meek- 
ness and  love,  and  yet  all  activity.  He  makes  me  quite 
ashamed,  for  he  invariably  rises  at  four  in  the  morning,  and 
not  only  he,  but  several  others  of  the  preachers.  Him  we  sent 
off,  like  an  arrow,  from  north  to  south,  directing  him  to  send 
messengers  to  the  right  and  left,  and  to  gather  all  the  preach- 
ers together  at  Baltimore  on  Christinas  eve." 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  133 

During  most  of  the  period  now  under  review  (1775-1784) 
Philip  Gatch  was  "  abundant  in  labors "  and  sufferings. 
Though  he  escaped  imprisonment,  "  he  was,  perhaps,  the  sub  * 
ject  of  as  much,  or  more,  persecution  for  his  Master's  sake 
than  any  of  his  contemporaries."  He  was  sent  by  the  Confer- 
ence of  1775  to  Kent  Circuit,  in  Maryland.  His  colleague 
was  John  Cooper,  a  young  man  whom  he  first  met  on  Freder- 
ick Circuit,  and  had  recommended  to  the  Conference  ;  a  "  man 
of  a  solemn,  fixed  countenance,  who  had  suffered  much  perse- 
cution." Cooper's  family  had  opposed  him.  His  father,  seeing 
him  once  on  his  knees  in  a  chamber,  threw  a  shovel  of  hot 
embers  upon  him,  and  afterward  expelled  him  from  his  home. 
His  trials  only  confirmed  him  in  his  faith  ;  he  joined  the  itin- 
erant band  of  evangelists,  and  lived  and  died  in  their  ranks. 
Gatch  was  soon  sent  to  Frederick  Circuit.  Between  Bladens- 
burg  and  Baltimore  two  men  seized  the  bridle  of  his  horse  and 
stopped  him  ;  others,  till  then  in  concealment,  hailed  the  assail- 
ants, and  the  preacher  was  led  up  to  the  mob.  They  had 
made  preparations  for  him,  and  proceeded  to  tar  him,  "  begin- 
ning at  his  left  cheek."  "  I  felt,"  he  says,  "  an  uninterrupted 
peace.  My  soul  was  joyful  in  the  God  of  my  salvation.  The 
man  who  officiated  called  out  for  more  tar,  adding  that  I  was 
'  true  blue.'  He  laid  it  on  liberally.  At  length  one  of  the  com- 
pany cried  out  in  mercy,  'It  is  enough.'  The  last  stroke, 
made  with  the  paddle  with  which  the  tar  was  applied,  was 
drawn  across  the  naked  eyeball,  which  caused  severe  pain, 
from  which  I  have  never  entirely  recovered.  In  taking  cold 
it  often  becomes  inflamed,  and  quite  painful.  I  was  not  taken 
from  my  horse,  which  was  a  very  spirited  animal.  Two  men 
held  him  by  the  bridle,  while  the  one,  elevated  to  a  suitable 
height,  applied  the  tar.  My  horse  became  so  frightened  that 
when  they  let  him  go  he  dashed  off  with  such  violence  that  I 
could  not  rein  him  up  for  some  time,  and  narrowly  escaped 
having  my  brains  dashed  out  against  a  tree.  If  I  ever  felt 
for  the  souls  of  men  I  did  for  theirs.  When  I  got  to  my  ap- 
pointment, the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  so  overpowered  me  that  I 
fell  prostrate  before  him  for  my  enemies."  He  again  conquered, 
notwithstanding  this  outrageous  treatment ;  for  the  leader  of 


134:  HISTORY    OF   THE 

flie  mob,  who  had  applied  the  tar,  and  several  of  his  associ- 
ates were  afterward  converted.  But  a  conspiracy  was  formed 
by  others  to  waylay,  if  not  to  murder  the  itinerant.  A  num- 
ber of  ruffians  concealed  themselves  under  a  bridge  with 
weapons  to  attack  him  when  he  should  pass  over  it.  The  de- 
sign was  revealed  to  some  of  his  friends,  and  one  of  them  rode 
over  the  bridge,  while  he  was  sent  around  on  another  road. 
The  conspirators  rushed  upon  his  friend,  but  were  confounded 
when  they  discovered  not  the  preacher,  but  one  of  their  own 
neighbors.  Gatch  escaped,  and  went  on  his  way  rejoicing  and 
preaching.  No  part  of  the  country  needed  more  such  evan- 
gelical laborers  as  Gatch,  for  not  a  few  of  its  population  were 
in  extreme  demoralization.  They  had  nearly  destroyed  the 
life  of  a  young  exhorter  by  waylaying  and  whipping  him  ;  the 
"  shirt  upon  his  back,  though  made  of  the  most  substantial 
material,  being  literally  cut  to  pieces."  Gatch  and  his  fellow- 
itinerants  were  no  cowards ;  they  gathered  courage  from  their 
trials  ;  and  though  they  followed  the  Scripture  precept,  when 
persecuted  in  one  city  to  flee  to  another,  yet  it  was  their  pol- 
icy to  return  in  due  time  to  the  scene  of  hostilities,  and  never 
finally  succumb.  In  four  weeks  he  rode  again  to  the  same 
appointment  where  he  had  been  "  tarred,"  and  threatened  at 
the  bridge.  His  friends  had  formed  a  guard  for  him,  but  he 
had  no  need  of  their  aid.  u  I  never,"  he  says,  "  missed  an 
appointment  from  the  persecutions  through  which  I  had  to 
pass,  or  the  dangers  to  which  I  was  exposed.  I  sometimes  felt 
great  timidity,  but  in  the  hour  of  danger  my  fears  always  van- 
ished." The  persecutions  on  Frederick  Circuit  were  thus 
ended. 

Gatch's  next  appointment  was  on  Hanover  Circuit,  Virginia. 
It  extended  along  both  sides  of  the  James  Eiver  through  six 
counties.  He  had  to  preach  mostly  in  the  open  air,  for  no  house 
could  contain  his  hearers.  His  health  gave  way.  "  It  seemed 
at  last,"  he  says,  "  that  my  lungs  were  entirely  gone.  Fre- 
quently I  would  have  to  raise  myself  up  in  the  bed  to  get  my 
breath."  Jarratt  sheltered  and  consoled  him.  In  1777  he 
was  sent  to  Sussex  Circuit,  Va.,  but  his  enfeebled  health  ren- 
dered him  comparatively  ineffective.     Here  also  he  had  trials 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  135 

from  persecutors.  While  riding  to' an  appointment  on  a  Sab- 
bath morning  he  was  seized  by  two  strong  men,  who  caught 
hold  of  his  arms  and  turned  them,  in  opposite  directions,  with 
such  violence,  that  he  thought  his  shoulders  would  be  dislo- 
cated, causing  a  torture  which  he  supposed  must  resemble 
that  of  the  rack — the  severest  pain  he  had  ever  felt.  His 
shoulders  were  so  bruised  that  they  turned  black,  and  it  was  a 
considerable  time  before  he  recovered  the  use  of  them.  His 
lungs  were  also  worse  than' ever,  and  he  was  compelled  to  re- 
treat ;  he  was  now  a  married  man ;  and  at  the  Conference  of 
1778  his  name  disappears  from  the  list  of  appointments.  He 
located  his  family  on  a  humble  farm  in  Powhatan  County, 
Yirginia,  but  continued  to  labor  in  the  ministry  as  his  health 
would  allow.  It  was  here  that  he  liberated  his  slaves,  nine  in 
number,  who  had  come  into  his  possession  by  his  marriage. 
He  declared  manfully  in  the  deed  of  emancipation,  "  Know  all 
men  by  these  presents,  that  I,  Philip  Gatch,  of  Powhatan 
County,  Va.,  do  believe  that  all  men  are  by  nature  equally  free ; 
and  from  a  clear  conviction  of  the  injustice  of  depriving  my 
fellow-creatures  of  their  natural  rights,  do  hereby  emancipate 
and  set  free  the  following  persons." 

Asbury  regretted  the  disappearance  of  Gatch's  name  from 
the  Minutes,  and  frequently  recommended  its  reinsertion. 
After  his  removal  to  the  West,  whither  we  shall  hereafter  fol- 
low him,  it  was  restored  to  the  record. 

It  is  difficult  to  trace  with  exactness,  through  the  present 
period,  the  labors  of  Benjamin  Abbott,  in  many  respects  the 
most  remarkable  evangelist  in  the  eventful  field.  This  mighty 
but  simple-minded  apostle,  intent  only  on  the  spiritual  results 
of  his  humble  mission,  seldom  pauses  to  note  dates  or  locali- 
ties. It  is  his  "  next  appointment,"  and  again,  and  still  again, 
his  "next  appointment,"  with  the  marvelous  effects  of  the 
truth,  that  he  records ;  hurrying  us  forward  with  intense  inter- 
est, with  frequent  and  bewildering  surprises  at  the  mysterious 
power  of  the  man,  and  at  both  the  spiritual  and  physical  phe- 
nomena which  it  produces.  If  we  can  pause  at  all  over  his 
exciting  narrative,  it  is  to  wonder  at  the  moral,  the  beneficent 
efficacy  of  his  ministrations,  the  peculiar,  the  magnetic  elo- 


136  HISTORY    OF    THE 

qucneo  of  his  unpolished  discourse,  and  the  questionable  if  not 
inexplicable  problems  of  its  physical  effects.  Seldom  does  he 
preach  without  some  of  these  "  physical  phenomena ;"  his 
hearers  by  tens  and  scores  fall  like  dead  men  to  the  earth.  If 
he  .is  himself,  at  first,  astonished  at  these  wonders,  his  simple 
and  honest  mind  has  a  very  direct  logic  respecting  them.  They 
are  "  insanity,"  they  are  "  demoniacal,"  cry  out  shrewd  and 
self-possessed  spectators.  Wait,  replies  the  evangelist,  let  us 
see  how  these  slain  come  to  life  again.  If  they  are  insane  they 
will  show  it ;  if  these  strange  things  are  of  the  devil  they  will 
recover  their  self-possession,  blaspheming  and  be  worse  than 
they  were  before.  They  "  come  to,"  not  in  general,  but  inva- 
riably, with  words  of  praise  upon  their  lips,  with  grateful 
tears,  with  resolutions  and  strength  to  live  a  new  life.  "  Stand 
still,"  cried  Abbott  to  gainsayers,  "  stand  still  and  see  the  sal- 
vation of  God."  Intellectually  he  was  incapable  of  other 
reasoning  on  the  subject,  and  went  forward  preaching,  sway- 
ing and  prostrating  his  wondering  congregations. 

To  the  student  of  such  marvels  the  autobiography  of  Abbott 
offers  the  most  curious  data ;  a  magnetic  power,  if  such  it  can 
be  called,  which,  intensified  by  his  piety,  was  as  irresistible, 
to  certain  temperaments,  as  the  electricity  of  lightning— a 
seemingly  clairvoyant  discernment,  a  somnambulic  insight  and 
foresight,  in  dreams;  facts  that  would  be  incredible,  were  not 
his  honesty  absolutely  unquestionable,  and  were  they  not  so 
circumstantially  given,  and  so  well  known  in  the  community 
among  whom  his  narrative  was  circulated,  as  to  silence  all 
denial. 

He  traveled  and  preached  for  years  without  one  cent  of 
compensation,  except  his  hospitable  entertainment  among  the 
people.  Frugal  and  industrious,  he  sustained  his  family  by 
tilling  a  small  farm,  hiring  laborers  that  he  might  alternate 
his  manual  toils  with  itinerant  excursions;  and,  when  he 
preached  within  convenient  proximity  to  his  farm,  he  led  his 
workmen  to  his  meetings,  paying  them  for  their  time  at  the 
rate  that  he  payed  for  their  labor.  All  his  family  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Church,  and  shared  his  zeal ;  one  of  his  sons  went 
forth  an  itinerant ;  the  remainder  of  the  household  made  their 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  137 

home  a  sort  of  chapel.  He  had  a  church  erected  in  his  neigh- 
borhood, for  which  he  begged  money  and  timber  from  house 
to  house.  Though  he  was  not  yet  fifty  years  old,  his  appear- 
ance was  unusually  paternal,  if  not  patriarchal ;  his  person  was 
large,  his  countenance  bland,  his  manners  marked  by  religious 
tenderness.  He  dressed  with  Quaker-like  simplicity,  and  his 
broad-brimmed  hat  and  straight  coat  added  not  a  little  to  the 
attraction  of  his  devout  temper  among  the  numerous  "Friends" 
of  New  Jersey.  They  frequented  his  appointments,  entertained 
him  at  their  homes,  and  urged  him  to  preach  in  their  Meeting- 
houses. "  Thee  appears  so  much  like  us  we  will  welcome 
thee,"  said  their  own  preachers  to  him.  They  liked  him  the 
more  for  his  Quaker  doctrine  about  war,  then  ragir%  in  the 
land.  He  was  a  sound  patriot,  but  could  not  approve  fighting, 
though  in  early  life  a  formidable  pugilist.  "My  call  is  to 
preach  salvation  to  sinners,"  he  said ;  "  to  wage  war  against 
the  works  of  the  devil."  He  was  sometimes  assailed  by  troops. 
Then  more  than  ever  he  blew  the  "  trumpet  of  the  Gospel," 
and  never  failed  of  victory.  A  major  angrily  attacked  him 
for  not  "  preaching  up  war."  "  I  related  to  him,"  he  says, 
"  my  conviction  and  conversion,  and  he  was  calm  and  wished 
me  well."  While  the  State  was  distracted  with  the  marchino- 
and  countermarching  of  troops,  he  was  allowed  to  go  on,  in 
his  own  evangelical  warfare,  through  its  length  and  breadth. 
He  went  to  Trenton,  but  found  the  Methodist  Chapel  used 
as  a  stable  by  the  army,  and  preached  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  He  went  forward  and  "  preached  in  the  evening  to 
a  crowded  congregation,"  he  writes,  "and  God  poured  out  his 
Spirit  in  such  a  manner  that  one  fell  to  the  floor.  A  captain 
and  some  soldiers  came  to  take  me  up,  but  the  Spirit  of  God 
took  him  up  in  such  a  manner  that  he  returned  home  crying 
to  God  for  mercy.  I  saw  him  some  time  after,  happy  in  God. 
We  spent  a  precious  time  together,  and  parted  in  love.  This 
meeting  was  a  time  of  God's  power ;  many  were  awakened  to 
a  sense  of  their  danger,  and  the  people  of  God  were  happy, 
and,  for  my  part,  I  was  very  happy."  He  continues :  "  I  went 
to  my  next  appointment,  where  they  had  threatened  to  tar  and 
feather  me.     Some  advised  me  to  go  some  other  way ;  but 


138  niSTORY    OF   THE 

when  I  arrived  at  the  place  I  found  a  large  congregation 
assembled,  to  whom  I  preached,  and  God  attended  the  Word 
with  power — many  shed  tears  in  abundance."  They  were  now 
unwilling  to  let  him  go  away.  "As  I  was  about  to  depart 
two  young  men  came  to  me ;  one  took  hold  of  my  leg,  and  the 
other  held  my  horse  by  the  neck,  and  said,  '  Will  you  go  V  I 
sat  on  my  horse  for  some  time,  exhorting  them  to  persevere, 
and  the  Lord  would  bless  them.  Many  more  stood  weeping ; 
so  we  parted,  and  I  went  to  the  New  Mills,  (Pemberton,) 
where  the  people  came  out  by  hundreds,  to  whom  I  preached 
my  farewell  sermon.  I  returned  home,  and  by  Thursday  night 
a  letter  was  sent,  informing  me  that  sixteen  were  justified,  and 
two  sanctified.  I  received  a  letter  from  a  Presbyterian  in 
Deerfield,  that  his  house  and  heart  were  open  to  receive  me, 
adding,  '  When  you  read  these  lines  look  upon  it  as  a  call  from 
God.'  I  accordingly  wrote  to  him  to  make  an  appointment 
for  me  on  the  Sunday  following.  I  attended,  and  found  a 
large  congregation,  to  whom  I  preached,  and  some  few  wept. 
I  attended  again  that  day  two  weeks,  and  we  had  a  melting 
time.  I  then  made  an  appointment  for  the  traveling  preacher. 
This  and  several  other  places  in  the  neighborhood  were  taken 
into  the  circuit.  The  Lord  began  to  work  in  a  powerful  man- 
ner, and  we  soon  had  two  classes ;  then  the  devil  roared  hor- 
ribly ;  but  God  worked  powerfully,  and  blessed  the  word,  and 
sent  it  with,  power  to  many  hearts ;  many  fell  under  it  like 
dead  men,  being  alarmed  of  their  danger.  We  appointed  a 
watch-night.  This  brought  so  many  to  see  what  it  meant  that 
the  house  could  not  contain  the  people.  One  of  our  preachers 
preached,  and  then  an  exhortation  was  given ;  the  Lord  poured 
out  his  Spirit  in  such  a  manner  that  the  slain  lay  all  over  the 
house ;  many  others  were  prevented  from  falling  by  the  crowd, 
which  stood  so  close  that  they  supported  one  another.  We 
continued  till  about  midnight;  some  stayed  all  night,  and 
in  the  morning  others  came ;  several  found  peace,  and  many 
cried  to  God  for  mercy ;  it  was  a  powerful  time  to  many  souls." 
These  extraordinary  effects  sometimes  spread  through  nearly 
his  whole  congregation,  few  escaping,  except;  such  as  rushed 
out  of  the  doors,  or  leaped  out  of  the  windows.    If  a  temporary 


METnODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  139 

tumult  ensued  it  was  soon  allayed,  while  the  moral  impression 
seemed  to  be  permanent  and  salutary ;  many  of  the  most  noted 
reprobates  of  the  county  being  reformed  and  converted  at  once 
into  good  Christians  and  good  citizens. 

His  labors  in  all  the  region  about  Salem,  noted  at  that  time 
for  its  demoralization,  were  surprisingly  successful.  Some  able 
preachers  were  raised  up  by  him.  Often  a  single  sentence  in 
his  conversation  left  an  ineffaceable  impression. 

Such  humble  labors  with  such  positive  results  (however  fas- 
tidiously we  may  criticise  their  incidental  irregularities)  could 
not  fail  of  a  general  impression.  The  Society  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  his  residence  increased  :  hitherto  he  had  preached  to 
them  under  the  trees  of  the  forest;  he  now  projected  his 
chapel,  and  Methodism  was  thus  securely  founded  in  that 
vicinity,  and  spread  out  dominantly  into  many  neighboring 
towns. 

For  some  time  Abbott  had  been  intimate  with  James  Ster- 
ling, Esq.,  of  whom  the  historian  of  the  denomination,  in  New 
Jersey,  says  that  probably  no  layman  in  the  state  "  ever  did 
more  to  advance  religion  and  Methodism."  A  merchant  of 
rare  ability  and  great  wealth,  an  officer  in  the  American  Revo- 
lution, a  citizen  of  universal  esteem  and  influence,  this  zealous 
layman  devoted  himself  to  the  new  Church  in  the  day  of  its 
deepest  humility.  He  accompanied  Abbott  in  many  of  his 
excursions,  and  often  exhorted  in  his  congregations.  His  house 
at  Burlington  was  the  home  of  not  only  Methodist  itinerants, 
but  of  Christian  ministers  of  all  denominations. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1780  Abbott  writes:  "I  had  been 
pressed  in  spirit  for  some  time  to  visit  Pennsylvania,  and,  in 
the  love  and  fear  of  God,  I  set  out  with  my  life  in  my  hand, 
it  being  a  i^me  when  war  was  raging  through  the  land."  He 
crossed  the  Delaware  at  New  Castle,  and  opened  his  mission 
in  that  town  to  "a  pack  of  ruffians"  who  had  met  to  mob 
him.  One  of  them  stood  before  him  with  a  bottle  of  rum  in 
his  hand,  threatening  to  throw  it  at  his  head.  Abbott  preached 
on,  however,  dealing  out  to  them  "  the  terrors  of  the  law"  in 
a  manner  he  had  seldom  done  before. 

He  soon  penetrated  to  Soudersburg,  a  German  settlement, 


140  HISTORY   OF    THE 

where  "the  Lord  wrought  wonders;  divers  fell  to  the  floor, 
and  several  found  peace.  The  people  cried  aloud,  and  con- 
tinued all  night  in  prayer."  He  was  welcomed  by  Martin 
Boehm,  in  Lancaster  County.  Boehm,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
one  of  the  founders,  and  at  last  one  of  the  bishops  of  the 
"  German  Methodists,"  or  "  United  Brethren."  Strawbridge 
had  visited  and  labored  with  him ;  Peter  Albright,  founder 
of  the  "Albright  Methodists,"  was  one  of  the  good  German's 
converts.  Boehm  had  formed  a  sort  of  circuit,  consisting  of 
four  appointments ;  one  of  these,  near  his  residence,  was  made 
a  regular  preaching  place  for  the  Methodist  itinerants,  and  his 
own  house  was  their  hospitable  home.  The  region  became  a 
stronghold  of  Methodism.  Asbury  visited  it  often ;  Boehm 
was  one  of  his  most  confidential  friends  and  counselors,  and 
his  son,  Henry  Boehm,  joined  the  Methodist  itinerancy,  and 
became  the  bishop's  traveling  companion. 

Abbott  was  accompanied  to  Boehm's  Tillage  by  quite  a  pro- 
cession, twenty  at  least  of  the  zealous  Methodists  of  Souders- 
burg  following  him  on  the  route.  His  introduction  to_  this 
new  scene  was  attended,  in  an  extraordinary  manner,  by  those 
"physical  demonstrations"  which  had  occurred  under  his 
preaching  in  New  Jersey,  and  which  were  comparatively  un- 
known among  these  quiet,  rustic  people.  They  began  spon- 
taneously as  soon  as  he  appeared  among  them.  "When  I 
came  to  my  appointment,"  he  says,  "  the  power  of  the  Lord 
came  in  such  a  manner  that  the  people  fell  all  about  the  house, 
and  their  cries  might  be  heard  afar  off.  This  alarmed  the 
wicked,  who  sprang  for  the  doors."  To  tranquilize  the  excite- 
ment, he  read  a  hymn  and  called  upon  a  friend  to  raise  the 
tune ;  but  as  soon  as  the  latter  attempted  it  he  was  struck 
down,  and  lay  as  a  dead  man.  Another  repeated  the  attempt, 
but  fell  in  like  manner.  Abbott  himself  then  began  to  sing, 
but,  he  says,  "  as  soon  as  I  began,  the  power  of  God  came  upon 
me  in  such  a  manner  that  I  cried  out,  and  was  amazed. 
Prayer  was  all  through  the  house,  up  stairs  and  down."  The 
veteran  Boehm  looked  on  with  wonder,  and  exclaimed  that  it 
was  a  return  of  the  apostolic  Pentecost.  At  sunrise  the  next 
morning  some  were  still  lingering  in  prayer.     A  sensation 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  141 

spread  through  all  the  regions  round  about,  and  scores  of  the 
people  followed  the  wonderful  itinerant  to  his  next  appoint- 
ment. "God  there  laid  to  his  helping  hand.  Many  cried 
aloud  for  mercy  ;  many  wept  around  "  him  when  he  dismissed 
them :  "  some  were  truly  awakened,  and  others  deeply  con- 
victed." He  had  written  to  his  friend  James  Sterling, 
giving  an  account  of  the  wonders  of  his  journey,  and  in- 
viting him  to  hasten  to  his  help.  Sterling  reached  him  at 
Upper  Octararo,  and,  though  a  layman,  worked  energetically 
with  him ;  and  at  times  his  own  vigorous  mind  was  so  over- 
powered by  the  prevailing  excitement  that  he  too  fell,  as  dead, 
among  the  many  who  were  slain  by  the  mighty  word  of  the 
preacher. 

Abbott  and  his  companion,  Sterling,  continued  their  travels 
and  labors  without  intermission,  almost  everywhere  attended 
with  such  remarkable  scenes.  They  passed  over  all  the 
ground  then  cultivated  by  Methodism  in  Pennsylvania,  ex- 
cept Philadelphia,  Bethel,  (Montgomery  County,)  and  Ger- 
mantown.  In  about  thirty  days  he  had  preached  twenty-nine 
sermons,  and  held  nearly  twenty  other  meetings.  Scores,  if 
not  hundreds,  of  his  hearers  were  awakened  or  converted. 
Large  districts  of  Delaware  and  Pennsylvania  were  aroused 
with  astonishment  and  religious  interest.  He  returned  by 
way  of  "Wilmington  and  New  Castle,  so  exhausted  that  when 
he  reached  his  home  his  friends  supposed  he  "  could  never 
preach  again ; "  but  it  was  not  long  before  he  was  again 
crossing  the  Delaware,  on  his  way  to  Kent  Circuit,  Maryland, 
now  traveled  by  his  son,  David  Abbott.  There  the  same 
singular  power  attended  his  word,  kindling  extraordinary 
interest  from  town  to  town.  Thus  he  continued,  from  place 
to  place,  with  scarcely  varying  effect,  till  he  arrived  near 
Kent  Meeting-house,  (Hinson's  Chapel,)  where  a  still  more 
remarkable  scene  occurred.  Many  hundreds  were  collected 
at  a  funeral  service,  which  was  conducted  by  a  church  clergy- 
man, who,  after  the  usual  forms  and  a  sermon,  invited  Abbott 
to  address  the  assembly.  A  tempest  had  been  rising,  covering 
the  heavens ;  "  two  clouds  appeared  to  approach  from  dif- 
ferent quarters  and  met  over  the  house.     The  people  crowded 


142  HISTORY    OF    THE 

in,  up  stairs  and  down,  to  screen  themselves  from  the  storm. 
With  some  difficulty  the  evangelist  made  his  way  through  the 
throng,  and  took  his  stand  on  one  of  the  benches.     Almost  as 
soon   as  he  began    "  the    Lord   out  of  heaven    began  also." 
The  tremendous  claps  of  thunder  exceeded  anything  he  had 
ever  heard,  and  the  streams  of  lightning  flashed  through  the 
house    in    "a   most   awful    manner.     The   very  foundations 
shook,  the  windows  jarred  with  the  violence  thereof."      He 
lost  no  time,  but   "set   before   them  the   awful   coming   of 
Christ,  in  all  his  splendor,  with  all  the  armies  of  heaven,  to 
judge  the  world,  and  to  take  vengeance  on  the  ungodly." 
The  people  wept,  cried  aloud,  and  fell  all  through  the  house. 
One  "  old  sinner  "  attempted  to  escape,  but  fell  to  the  floor  as 
dead.     The  lightning,  thunder,  and  rain  "  continued  for  about 
one  hour   in  the   most  awful  manner    ever  known   in   that 
country,"  during  which  time  he  continued  to  "  set  before  the 
people  the  coming  of  Christ  to  judge  the  world,  warning  and 
inviting  them  to  flee  to  him."     Many  were  "  convinced  and 
many  converted  "  on  that  great  day.     Fourteen  years  later, 
while  Abbott  was  passing  through  the  same  region,  he  met 
"  twelve  living  witnesses,"  who  informed  him  that  they  dated 
their  salvation  from  it,  and  enumerated  others  who  had  died  in 
the  faith,  and  some  who  had  moved  out  of  the  neighborhood, 
who  began  their  Christian  life  at  that  memorable  time.     It 
was  long  an  occasion  of  general  interest  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  old  Methodists  of  Kent  County  were  accustomed  to  speak 
with   wonder   of  what   they   called    "Abbott's   thunder-gust 
sermon."     "  Between  the  voice  of  the  Lord  from  heaven  and 
the  voice  of  his  servant  in  the  house,  the  people  had  never 
known  such  a  time."     Sterling  again  joined  him  in  this  neigh- 
borhood, and  they  pursued  together  their  travels  and  labors 
from  town  to  town,,  among  whites  and  blacks,  attended  con- 
stantly with  these  astonishing  demonstrations. 

In  October,  1782,  this  tireless  laborer  was  again  in  Dela- 
ware, relieving  his  son  on  Dover  Circuit,  and  scenes,  equally 
extraordinary  with  those  already  cited,  were  of  almost  daily 
occurrence,  as  he  advanced  from  town  to  town ;  the  same 
questionable  physical  effects,  the  same  unquestionable  moral 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  143 

results.  He  reached  Judge  White's  house,  where  he  met 
Asbury  and  a  score  of  other  preachers,  on  their  way  to  a 
quarterly  meeting  at  Barrett's  Chapel.  The  itinerants  were 
astonished  at  his  simplicity  and  power.  His  sermon  in 
the  chapel  was  overwhelming;  some  of  the  hearers  fell  to 
the  floor,  and  others  fled  out  of  the  house ;  many  sobbed  and 
prayed  aloud.  His  expedition  ended  here;  it  had  been  suc- 
cessful, and  he  returned  home  with  a  thankful  heart.  He  was 
now  known  through  much  of  the  land  as  one  of  the  most  ex- 
traordinary preachers  of  Methodism — a  Boanerges — before 
whom  gainsayers,  persecutors,  mobs,  either  yielded  or  were 
prostrated.  He  was  soon  to  leave  house  and  lands,  and, 
entering  the  "regular  itinerancy,"  extend  his  labors  and 
triumphs  to  other  parts  of  the  country,  where  we  shall  meet 
him  again. 

Meanwhile  one  of  the  most  distinguished  itinerants  of  the 
times  had  entered  the  field  in  the  South.  We  have  already 
seen  the  youthful  Jesse  Lee  introduced  into  the  Church,  on 
Robert  Williams's  Circuit,  in  Virginia,  a  convert  in  the  great 
revival  which  was  so  long  maintained  by  Williams,  Jarratt, 
and  their  fellow-laborers.  Thus  endued  with  power  from  on 
high,  while  yet  in  his  eighteenth  year,  he  was  maturing  for  the 
great  work  before  him.  In  1779  he  preached  his  first  sermon 
in  North  Carolina.  Endowed  with  quick  sensibility  and  ready 
utterance,  he  immediately  became  a  popular  speaker.  In 
1780  his  destined  career,  as  a  preacher  of  Methodism,  seemed 
about  to  be  defeated  by  an  unexpected  trial.  He  was  drafted 
into  the  Revolutionary  army,  and  was  compelled  to  go  into 
camp,  but  his  conscience  revolted  from  war.  "  I  weighed  the 
matter  over  and  over  again,"  he  says,  "but  my  mind  was 
settled ;  as  a  Christian  and  as  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  I 
could  not  fight  However,  I  determined  to  go,  and  to  trust  in 
the  Lord,  and  accordingly  prepared  for  my  journey."  He 
was  ordered  on  parade.  The  sergeant  offered  him  a  gun,  but 
he  would  not  take  it ;  the  lieutenant  brought  him  another, 
but  he  refused  it.  The  lieutenant  reported  the  case  to  the 
colonel,  and  returned  again  with  a  gun  and  set  it  down 
against  him  ;  he  still  declined  to  take  it ;  he  was  then  delivered 


U4:  HISTORY    OF    THE 

to  the  guard.  The  colonel  came  and  remonstrated  with  him, 
but  unable  to  answer  his  objections,  left  him  again  to  the 
custody  of  the  guard.  He  not  only  refused  to  violate  his  con- 
science by  bearing  arms,  he  remembered  that  he  was  panoplied 
for  a  higher  warfare,  and  immediately  set  himself  about  it. 
A  neighboring  inn-keeper,  while  yet  in  bed,  heard  his  early 
prayer,  was  affected  to  tears,  and  came  entreating  him  to 
preach.  In  a  short  time  the  man  of  God  was  standing  on  a 
bench  near  the  tent  of  his  commanding  officer,  proclaiming  as 
his  text,  "  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."  "  I 
was  enabled,"  he  says,  "  to  speak  plainly  and  without  fear. 
Many  of  the  people,  officers  as  well  as  men,  were  bathed 
in  tears  before  I  was  done."  When  his  colonel  heard  of  his 
preaching,  "  it  affected  him  very  much,"  says  Lee,  "  so  he 
came  and  took  me  out  to  talk  with  me  on  the  subject  of  bear- 
ing arms.  He  asked  me  if  I  would  be  willing  to  drive  their 
baggage- wagon.  I  told  him  I.  would,  though  I  had  never 
driven  a  wagon  before.  He  said  their  main  cook  was  a 
Methodist,  and  could  drive  the  wagon  when  we  were  on  a 
march,  and  I  might  lodge  and  eat  with  him,  to  which  I 
agreed.     He  then  released  me  from  guard." 

For  nearly  four  months  was  he  detained  in  the  army,  suffer- 
ing severe  privations  and  trials,  fatiguing  marches,  want  of 
food,  the  clamorous  profanity  of  the  camp,  and  sickness  that, 
in  one  instance,  endangered  his  life.  During  these  sufferings 
he  continued  to  preach  whenever  circumstances  admitted,  and 
not  without  effect  on  his  hardy  hearers.  Disease  prevailed 
among  the  troops,  and  many  died.  He  not  only  preached  to 
them  on  Sundays,  but  practically  became  their  chaplain,  going 
among  them  where  they  lay  ill  in  barns,  talking  to  them  about 
their  souls,  begging  them  to  prepare  to  meet  their  God,  at- 
tending the  funerals  of  those  who  died,  and  praying  at  their 
graves. 

For  more  than  a  year  after  his  discharge  from  the  army  he 
wTas  zealously  occupied  in  preaching  in  his  native  neighbor- 
hood. Before  the  end  of  1782  he  was  on  his  way,  with  a 
colleague,  Edward  Dromgoole,  to  Xorth  Carolina,  to  form  a 
new  and  extensive  circuit.     The  next  year  he  was  appointed 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  145 

to  labor  regularly  in  that  state ;  and  being  now  fully  in  the 
sphere  of  his  duty,  he  was  largely  blessed  with  the  comforts  of 
the  divine  favor,  and  went  through  the  extensive  rounds  of  his 
circuit  with  continual  success.  His  word  was  accompanied 
with  the  authority  and  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Stout- 
hearted men  were  smitten  down  under  it,  large  congregations 
were  often  melted  into  tears  by  irrepressible  emotions,  and 
his  eloquent  voice  was  not  unfrequently  lost  amid  the  sobs 
and  ejaculations  of  his  audience. 

Such  a  spirit  could  not  fail  to  captivate  the  multitude.  It 
was  characteristic  of  Lee  through  his  long  and  successful 
career.  Pathos  was  natural  to  him.  Humor  seems,  in  some 
temperaments,  to  be  the  natural  counterpart,  or,  at  least,  re- 
action of  pathos.  Lee  became  noted  for  his  wit ;  it  served 
him  with  many  a  felicitous  advantage  in  his  rencounters  with 
opponents,  especially  in  the  Northeastern  States.  It  flowed 
in  a  genial  and  perennial  stream  from  his  large  heart,  and 
played  most  vividly  in  his  severest  itinerant  hardships ;  but  he 
was  full  of  tender  humanity  and  affectionate  piety.  His  rich 
sensibilities,  rather  than  any  remarkable  intellectual  powers, 
made  him  one  of  the  most  eloquent  and  popular  preachers  of 
his  day.  One  of  his  fellow-laborers,  a  man  of  excellent  judg- 
ment, says  that  he  possessed  uncommon  colloquial  powers,  and 
a  fascinating  address ;  that  his  readiness  at  repartee  was 
scarcely  equaled;  that  he  was,  moreover,  a  man  of  great 
moral  courage. 

During  the  year  1784  he  labored  on  Salisbury  Circuit,  in 
the  west  of  North  Carolina,  and  here  the  same  traits  character- 
ized, and  the  same  results  followed,  his  ardent  ministry.  His 
labors  were  indefatigable,  his  journeys  incessant,  his  health  at 
times  prostrated,  and  his  life  endangered  by  exposure  to  the 
weather  and  the  fording  of  rivers.  Still  we  hear  from  him  but 
one  language,  expressive  of  unabated  fervor,  triumphant  faith, 
and  yearning,  weeping  sympathy  for  souls.  During  these 
labors  he  was  repeatedly  transferred,  for  half  a  year  or  more, 
to  other  circuits.  From  Norfolk  in  Yirginia  to  the  south- 
west of  North  Carolina  he  hastened  to  and  fro,  sounding  the 
alarm,  reorganizing  Societies  which  had  been  nearly  destroyed 

10 


146  HISTORY    OF    THE 

by  the  disturbances  of  the  war,  pioneering  Methodism  into 
regions  which  it  had  not  before  penetrated,  and  raising  up 
some  energetic  men  for  the  itinerancy.  By  the  latter  part  of 
1784  he  had  become  recognized  as  a  representative  man  of  his 
denomination. 

We  have  followed,  through  the  stormy  period  of  the  Revo- 
lution, the  principal  evangelists  of  Methodism  by  such  imper- 
fect traces  as  the  scanty  records  of  the  times  afford.  Mean- 
while scores  of  other  laborers  entered  the  field,  many  of  them 
men  of  might,  who  have  left  historic  impressions  on  the 
denomination  and  on  the  country;  whose  labors  have  been 
gigantic  in  results,  but  unrecorded  in  detail.  The  energy  and 
progress  of  Methodism  during  these  tumultuous  times  are  sur- 
prising. Revivals  prevailed  in  some  places  throughout  the 
whole  period  of  the  Revolution,  and  the  ministry  was  rapidly 
reinforced.  But  many  of  the  Societies,  says  the  contemporary 
historian,  were  dispersed  or  could  not  assemble,  many  of  their 
male  members  were  drafted,  and  when  the  militia  were  called 
out,  had  to  go  into  the  army  to  fight  for  their  country.  He 
assures  us,  however,  that  no  sooner  had  the  war  ended  than 
the  evangelists  saw  the  fruits  of  their  former  labors  in  most  of 
the  land,  and  that  the  sufferings  and  dispersion  of  so  many  of 
the  Societies  proved  to  be  a  signal  advantage.  Many  Meth- 
odists had,  through  necessity,  fear,  or  choice,  moved  into  the 
back  settlements,  or  new  parts  of  the  country,  some  even  be- 
yond the  great  mountain  ranges.  "  As"  soon  as  peace  was 
declared,  and  the  way  opened,  they  invited  us  to  come  among 
them  ;  and  by  their  earnest  and  frequent  petitions,  both  oral 
and  written,  we  went.  They  were  ready  to  receive  us  with 
open  hands  and  willing  hearts,  and  to  cry  out,  '  Blessed  is  he 
that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.'  "  In  fine,  the  prov- 
idential design  and  adaptation  of  Methodism,  for  the  new 
nation,  are  revealed  all  through  this  period  of  its  preparatory 
operations. 

The  erection  of  chapels  was  retarded,  if  not  arrested,  through 
most  of  these  years.  Asbury's  project  of  a  building  in  Norfolk 
was  defeated,  and  the  city  laid  in  ashes ;  the  other  scattered 
chapels  in  Virginia  were  hardly  more  than  wooden  shells :  the 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  147 

two  in  Baltimore  had  the  rudest  accommodations.  The  rural 
meeting-houses  of  Maryland  could  hardly  shelter  their  congre- 
gations from  the  weather.  St.  George's,  in  Philadelphia,  was 
used  as  a  riding-school  by  the  British  cavalry ;  but  the  military 
authorities,  probably  through  respect  for  Wesley  and  the  En- 
glish itinerants  in  America,  gave  the  Society  the  use  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church,  on  Lagrange  Place,  Front-street.  The 
chapel  in  Trenton,  N".  J.,  was  occupied  by  troops.  That  of 
Salem  was  not  projected  till  about  the  close  of  the  war ;  it 
was  the  fourth  in  the  state  after  Bethel,  Pemberton,  and  Tren- 
ton, and  was  hardly  better  than  a  barn.  It  was  often  besieged 
by  mobs,  till  at  last  the  magistrates  interfered  and  protected 
the  feeble  Society.  A  profane  club  of  the  town  continued  the 
persecution,  in  burlesque  imitations  of  the  Methodist  worship, 
but  was  suddenly  arrested  by  an  appalling  occurrence  in. one 
of  their  assemblies.  While  they  were  amusing  themselves 
with  jocular  recitations  of  hymns  and  exhortations,  a  female 
guest  rose  on  a  bench  to  imitate  a  Methodist  class.  "  Glory 
to  God ! "  she  exclaimed ;  "  I  have  found  peace,  I  am  sancti- 
fied ;  I  am  now  ready  to  die ! "  At  the  last  word  she  fell  to 
the  floor  a  corpse.  The  club,  struck  with  consternation,  never 
assembled  again,  and  Methodism  became  eminently  influential 
in  the  town  and  all  its  vicinity.  It  has  been  erroneously  sup- 
posed that  John-street  Chanel,  in  'New  York,  was  occupied  by 
the  British  troops  during  a  part  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 
Seven  Annual  Conferences  were,  indeed,  held  without  an  ap- 
pointment to  that  city.  The  chapels  of  most  denominations 
in  the  city  were  appropriated  by  the  enemy  ;  but  John- 
street  was  spared,  through  deference  to  Wesley  and  his 
English  representatives  in  the  colonies.  The  Methodists  were 
allowed  to  use  it  themselves  on  Sunday  nights ;  the  Hessian 
troops,  with  their  chaplain,  occupied  it  in  religious  services  on 
Sunday  mornings.  The  little  flock,  though  much  reduced  by 
the  dispersion  of  many  of  its  members,  met  regularly,  and  was 
providentially  provided  with  pastors.  We  have  already  seen 
that  John  Mann  was  converted  and  received  into  the  Society 
under  the  ministry  of  Boardman.  He  had  graduated,  as  Class 
Leader  and  Exhorter,  to  the  rank  of  an  effective  Local  Preacher, 


148  HISTORY    OF   THE 

by  the  time  that  the  Revolution  rendered  his  services  most  in- 
dispensable to  his  suffering  brethren.  They  now  placed  him 
in  charge  of  their  deserted  pulpit ;  he  preached  in  it  all  through 
the  war,  and  during  the  same  time  acted  as  Class  Leader,  Trus- 
tee, and  Treasurer.  His  services  were  of  the  highest  importance 
in  this  critical  period.  They  probably  saved  the  Methodism 
of  New  York  city  from  at  least  temporary  extinction. 

During  the  war,  after  the  battle  of  Long  Island,  no  other 
itinerant  crossed  the  Hudson.  The  little  church  in  New  York 
was  totally  isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  Methodist  communion. 
Before  the  war  it  reported  more  than  two  hundred  members  ; 
at  its  close  but  sixty.  Occasionally  some  of  the  more  import- 
ant men  of  the  army,  from  mischief,  perhaps,  rather  than 
malice,  interrupted  their  humble  worship.  "  Upon  a  Christ- 
mas eve,  when  the  members  had  assembled  to  celebrate  the 
advent  of  the  world's  Redeemer,  a  party  of  British  officers, 
masked,  marched  into  the  chapel.  One,  very  properly  per- 
sonifying their  master,  was  dressed  with  cloven  feet  and  a 
long  forked  tail.  The  devotions  of  course  soon  ceased,  and 
the  chief  devil,  proceeding  up  the  aisle,  entered  the  altar.  As 
he  was  ascending  the  stairs  of  the  pulpit,  a  gentleman  present, 
with  his  cane,  knocked  off  his  Satanic  majesty's  mask,  when,  lo, 
there  stood  a  well-known  British  colonel !  He  was  immedi- 
ately seized  and  detained,  until  the  city  guard  was  sent  to  take 
charge  of  the  bold  offender.  The  congregation  retired,  and 
the  entrances  of  the  church  were  locked  upon  the  prisoner 
for  additional  security.  His  companions  outside  then  com- 
menced an  attack  upon  the  doors  and  windows,  but  the  arrival 
of  the  guard  put  an  end  to  these  disgraceful  proceedings,  and 
the  prisoner  was  delivered  into  their  custody." 

During  most  of  the  war  Methodism  had  its  chief  successes 
in  its  southern  fields.  Abbott  and  his  fellow-laborers  kept  it 
alive  and  moving  in  New  Jersey,  and  at  the  peace  that  state 
reported  more  than  one  thousand  members;  but,  out  of  the 
nearly  fourteen  thousand  returned  in  1783,  more  than  twelve 
thousand  were  in  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  North 
Carolina.  There  were  more  within  the  small  limits  of  Dela- 
ware than  in  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  or  New  York.     At 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  149 

the  end  of  the  war  there  was  probably  not  a  Methodist  in  the 
Eastern  States  ;  for  the  Society  formed  by  Boardman,  in  Bos- 
ton, had  become  extinct.  It  was  to  achieve  its  chief  triumphs, 
for  some  time  yet,  southward  and  westward,  and  to  encounter 
in  those  directions  adventures  and  hardships  for  which  the 
ardent  and  generous  spirit  of  its  present  people  and  ministry 
peculiarly  fitted  it.  It  went  forward,  not  only  preaching  and 
praying,  but  also  "  shouting,"  infecting  the  adventurous 
and  scattered  populations  of  the  wilderness  and  frontiers  with 
its  evangelic  enthusiasm,  and  gathering  them  by  thousands 
into  its  communion.  It  pressed  northward,  at  first,  with  the 
same  zealous  ardor,  but  became  there  gradually  attempered 
with  a  more  deliberate,  a  more  practical,  yet  a  hardly  less 
energetic  spirit.  The  characteristics  of  both  sections  blended, 
securing  to  it  at  once  unity,  enthusiasm,  and  practical  wisdom, 
especially  in  its  great  fields  in  the  West,  where,  for  the  last 
half  century,  and  probably  for  all  future  time,  it  was  destined 
to  have  its  most  important  sway. 


150  HISTORY    OF    THE 


CHAPTER  XII. 

CONFERENCES  AND  PROGRESS  FROM  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE 
REVOLUTIONARY  WAR  TO  THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE 
METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 

For  some  years  the  infant  Churches  of  American  Methodism 
were  content  with  humble  "  Quarterly  Conferences "  as  their 
only  judicatories  or  synods.  These  were  held  mostly  in  ob- 
scure places,  their  sessions  occupying  but  a  day  or  two,  their 
members  consisting  of  a  few  Itinerants,  Local  Preachers,  Ex- 
horters,  and  subordinate  officials,  gathered  from  neighboring 
circuits,  and  their  records  so  slight,  or  deemed  so  unimportant, 
that  I  am  not  aware  that  an  official  copy  of  any  of  them  re- 
mains. Not  till  Kankin  arrived,  as  "  assistant "  of  Wesley, 
did  they  hold  an  Annual  Conference.  But  two  of  these  an- 
nual sessions  were  held  prior  to  our  present  period,  both  in 
Philadelphia,  the  first  in  1773,  the  second  in  1774.  The 
printed  records  of  both  scarcely  cover  a  page  and  a  half  of  the 
octavo  Minutes.  Both  have  already  been  noticed.  In  the  ten 
years  now  under  review  one  session  at  least  was  held  annu- 
ally;  in  five  of  these  years  (1779-1783)  ten  took  place  ;  in  the 
last  year  of  the  period  (1784)  there  were  no  less  than  three, 
the  final  one  being  the  memorable  epoch  of  the  Episcopal 
organization  of  Methodism. 

Seventeen  sessions*  were  held  in  these  ten  years,  and  yet 
their  records  do  not  exceed  fifteen  pages  in  the  printed 
Minutes.  The  contrast  of  their  original  humility  with  the 
greatness  of  their  historical  results  can  hardly  fail  to  strike  us 
as  sublime.  In  obscurity,  if  not  ignominy,  amid  poverty, 
persecutions,  and  strifes  of  politics  and  arms  that  swept  over 
them  like  tempests,  they  were  laying,  stone  by  stone,  the  foun- 
dations of  an  ecclesiastical  edifice  whose  dome  was  to  cover 
the  continent  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  from  the  frozen 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  151 

zone  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Some  of  their  obscure  laborers 
were  to  see  this  grand  consummation.  The  humble  coral 
builders  work  in  the  obscure  depths  of  the  seas,  but  lay  the 
foundations  of  beautiful  and  extended  lands,  upon  which 
nature  may  rear  her  magnificent  growths,  and  man  his  com- 
munities; and  science  traces  their  work,  in  the  foundations 
of  the  globe,  so  far  back  as  the  Silurian  period,  and,  in 
heavenward  monuments,  thousands  of  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  seas. 

All  these  Annual  Conferences,  and  all  subsequent  sessions 
down  to  the  organization  of  the  General  or  Quadrennial  Con- 
ference, were  considered  adjourned  meetings  of  the  undivided 
ministry,  held  at  different  places,  often  widely  apart,  for  the 
local  convenience  of  the  scattered  itinerants.  The  enactments 
of  no  one  session  were  binding,  till  they  had  been  adopted  at 
all  the  other  sessions  of  the  same  ecclesiastical  year,  and  had 
thus  become  the  expression  of  a  majority  of  the  ministry. 

The  Conference  of  1775  began  in  Philadelphia  on  the  17th 
of  May,  not  quite  one  month  after  the  outbreak  of  hostilities 
at  Concord  and  Lexington,  and  but  a  few  months  after  the 
session  of  the  Colonial  Congress  in  the  same  city.  The 
country  was  surging  with  agitation  and  martial  preparations. 
Three  candidates  were  admitted  on  trial,  six  probationers 
were  received  into  full  membership,  and  nineteen  preachers 
were  enrolled  on  the  list  of  appointments.  The  returns  of 
members  amounted  to  3,148,  the  increase  was  therefore  1,075, 
more  than  a  third  of  the  whole  number.  The  only  proceed- 
ings of  this  Conference,  aside  from  the  reception  and  appoint- 
ment of  preachers,  related  to  the  exchange  of  circuits,  in  some 
instances  to  take  place  quarterly,  in  others  semi-annually ;  to 
the  expenses  of  preachers  from  the  session  to  their  circuits, 
which  was  to  be  paid  out  of  the  public  collections ;  and  to  a 
general  fast  in  behalf  of  the  prosperity  of  the  Church  and  the 
"  peace  of  America."  The  latter  was  repeated  in  the  three 
ensuing  years. 

The  next  session  was  begun  in  Baltimore  on  the  21st  of 
May,  1776.  Asbury  was  not  present ;  he  set  out  on  horseback 
for  the  city,  but  in  such   exhausted  health   that  he  had   to 


152  HISTORY   OF   THE 

return.  Kankin  makes  no  reference  to  the  session,  except  in 
a  later  allusion  to  its  Love-feast.  Watters  was  present,  and 
says :  "  It  was  a  good  time,  and  I  was  much  refreshed  in 
meeting  with  my  brethren  and  companions  in  tribulation, 
and  in  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  were  of  one  heart 
and  mind,  and  took  sweet  counsel  together.  We  had  a 
powerful  time  in  our  Love-feast  a  little  before  we  parted, 
while  we  sat  at  our  divine  Master's  feet,  and  gladly  heard 
each  other  tell  what  the  Lord  had  done,  for  and  by  us,  in  the 
different  places  in  which  we  had  been  laboring."  This  was 
the  first  Conference  attended  by  young  Freeborn  Garrettson ; 
he  entered  it  with  insupportable  anxieties;  he  had  been 
preaching  irregularly ;  but  the  question  of  the  consecration 
of  his  whole  remaining  life  to  the  labors  and  trials  of  the 
itinerancy  was  now  to  be  decided,  and  he  recoiled  at  the 
prospect.  "  The  exercise  of  my  mind,"  he  writes,  "  was  too 
great  for  my  emaciated  frame.  I  betook  myself  to  my  bed 
and  lay  till  twelve  o'clock ;  then  I  rose  up  and  set  off.  I  got 
into  Baltimore  about  sunset.  The  Conference  was  to  begin 
the  next  day :  I  attended,  passed  through  an  examination, 
was  admitted  on  trial,  and  my  name  was,  for  the  first  time, 
classed  among  the  Methodists.  I  received  of  Mr.  Kankin  a 
written  license.  My  mind  continued  so  agitated,  for  I  still 
felt  an  unwillingness  to  be  a  traveling  preacher,  that,  after  I 
went  from  the  preaching  house  to  dinner,  I  again  fainted 
under  my  burden  and  sank  to  the  floor.  When  I  recovered 
I  found  myself  in  an  upper  chamber  on  the  bed,  surrounded 
by  several  preachers.  I  asked  where  I  had  been,  as  I  seemed 
to  be  lost  to  all  things  below,  appearing  to  have  been  in  a 
place  from  whence  I  did  not  desire  to  return.  The  brethren 
joined  in  prayer,  and  my  soul  was  so  happy,  while  everything 
wore  so  pleasing  an  aspect  that  the  preachers  appeared  to  me 
more  like  angels  than  men.  And  I  have  praised  the  Lord 
ever  since,  that,  though  unworthy  of  a  seat  among  them,  I 
was  ever  united  to  this  happy  family." 

The  Conference  began  on  Tuesday,  and  concluded  on 
Friday.  It  was  held  in  the  second  Methodist  Chapel  built 
in  the  city,  on  Lovely  Lane.     This   edifice  had  been  erected 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  153 

about  two  years,  but  was  yet  hardly  furnished  ;  the  seats  had 
no  backs  ;  it  had  no  provision  for  warming,  and  no  galleries. 
It  was  still  "  the  day  of  small  things,"  though  of  vast  hopes, 
with  American  Methodism.  Rankin  presided  as  Wesley's 
"  Assistant."  The  aggregate  membership  reported  was  4,921 ; 
the  increase  for  the  year  was  1,773,  the  largest  gains  yet 
recorded.  Twenty-five  itinerants  were  on  the  roll  of  the 
Conference,  a  gain  of  five.  Four  new  circuits  were  recog- 
nized ;  all  in  Virginia,  except  one,  which  was  in  North 
Carolina,  and  is  the  first  appearance  of  that  state  in  the 
Minutes.  Methodism  had  been  energetically  pushing  its  con- 
quests into  the  state  for  about  three  years ;  Pilmoor,  as  wTe 
have  seen,  passed  through  it  preaching  in  1773 ;  Robert 
Williams  entered  it  the  same  year,  and,  in  the  next,  formed 
Societies  within  its  bounds.  Nine  candidates  were  received 
on  trial,  and  five  probationers  were  admitted  to  full  member- 
ship. Among  the  former  wTas  Nicholas  Watters,  brother  to 
the  first  native  itinerant,  William  Watters  ;  he  died  an 
itinerant  in  Charleston,  S.  C,  in  1804.  Also  Francis  Poy- 
thress,  who  became  one  of  the  itinerant  heroes  of  these 
times  ;  and  though  his  last  years  were  darkened  by  clouds,  he 
is  still  recalled  by  aged  Methodists  with  vivid  interest.  He 
was  a  Yirginian  of  large  estate,  but  of  dissipated  habits  in 
his  youth.  The  conversations  and  rebukes  of  a  lady  of  high 
social  position  arrested  him  in  his  perilous  course.  He  re- 
turned from  her  house  confounded,  penitent,  and  determined 
to  reform  his  morals.  Hearing  of  the  devoted  Jarratt,  he 
hastened  to  his  parish,  and  was  entertained  some  time  under 
his  hospitable  roof  for  instruction.  There  he  found  purifica- 
tion and  peace  about  the  year  1772.  It  was  not  long  before 
he  began  to  co-operate  with  Jarratt  in  his  public  labors  amid 
the  extraordinary  scenes  of  religious  interest  which  prevailed 
through  all  that  region.  Thus,  before  the  arrival  of  the  Meth- 
odist itinerants  in  Yirginia,  he  had  become  an  evangelist; 
when  they  appeared  he  learned  with  delight  their  doctrines 
and  methods  of  labor,  and  joining  them,  became  a  giant  in 
their  ranks.  In  1775  he  began  his  travels,  under  the  authority 
of  a  quarterly  meeting  of  Brunswick  Circuit,  and,  the  present 


154  HISTORY    OF    TIIE 

year,  appears,  for  the  first  time,  on  the  roll  of  the  Conference. 
Henceforth,  in  North  Carolina,  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  Ken- 
tucky, he  was  to  be  a  representative  man  of  the  struggling 
cause.  In  1783  he  bore  its  standard  across  the  Alleghanies 
to  the  waters  of  the  Youghiogheny.  His  name  stands  in 
the  Minutes  of  1802  for  the  last  time  among  the  elders,  but 
without  an  appointment,  for  he  had  become  incurably 
insane,  by  excessive  labors  and  anxieties  for  a  Western 
Methodist  Seminary. 

The  session  of  1777  began  on  the  20th  of  May,  at  a  "  preach- 
ing house,"  say  the  Minutes,  "  near  Deer  Creek,  in  Harford 
County,  Md."  It  was  the  "preaching  house"  of  John  Wat- 
ters,  at  this  time  one  of  the  chief  rural  centers  of  Methodism 
in  the  state.  Though  the  storm  of  war  was  now  howling 
through  the  land,  "  and  there  were,"  says  the  historian,  "  fears 
within  and  fightings  without  in  all  directions,"  the  small  min- 
isterial band  assembled,  not  only  in  peace,  but  with  gratula- 
tions  over  the  evangelical  victories  of  the  last  year.  The  re- 
turns showed  a  gain  in  the  ministry  of  fully  one  third,  and  in 
the  membership  of  considerably  more  than  one  third.  "  It 
was  submitted,"  says  Watters,  "  to  the  consideration  of  this 
Conference  whether  in  our  present  situation,  of  having  but  few 
ministers  left  in  many  of  our  parishes  to  administer  the  ordi- 
nances of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper,  we  should  not  admin- 
ister them  ourselves,  for  as  yet  we  had  not  the  ordinances 
among  us,  but  were  dependent  on  other  denominations  for 
them.  After  much  conversation  on  the  subject,  it  was  unan- 
imously agreed  to  lay  it  over  for  the  determination  of  the  next 
Conference,  to  be  held  in  Leesburgh  the  19th  of  May.  I 
never  saw  so  affecting  a  scene  as  the  parting  of  the  preachers. 
Our  hearts  were  knit  together  as  the  hearts  of  David  and 
Jonathan,  and  we  were  obliged  to  use  great  violence  to  our 
feelings  in  tearing  ourselves  asunder." 

The  membership  amounted  to  6,968,  its  increase  being 
2,047,  the  largest  yet  reported.  The  ministerial  roll  recorded 
thirty-eight  names ;  there  were  fourteen  circuits  supplied  by 
thirty-six  preachers.  The  ministry  already  felt  strong  in  its 
native    men ;    Watters,   Poythress,    Garrettson,    Dromgoole, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  155 

Cooper,  Gateh,  Ruff,  and  others  now  joining  their  ranks,  Ped- 
icord,  Tunnell,  Gill,  Dickins,  besides  not  a  few  who,  like  Ab- 
bott, were  strenuously  active,  though  not  yet  in  the  Confer, 
ence  :  these,  headed  by  Asbury,  formed  a  force  which  ren- 
dered the  denomination  independent  of  England.  Some  of 
them  were  men  of  essential  greatness  of  intellect  and  charac- 
ter, swaying  the  popular  mind,  through  much  of  the  middle 
states,  for  years,  and  recognized,  at  the  beginning  of  our  cen- 
tury, throughout  the  whole  range  of  Methodism  as  its  leaders. 
The  "  question  of  the  sacraments  "  was  again  discussed,  as  the 
citation  from  Watters  intimates.  It  was  asked,  "  What  shall 
be  done  with  respect  to  the  ordinances  ? "  "  Let  the  preach- 
ers pursue  the  old  plan  as  from  the  beginning,"  was  the  an- 
swer. It  appears,  however,  that  already  the  sacramental  party 
were  too  strong  to  be  thus  peremptorily  silenced ;  and,  to  ap- 
pease them,  the  possibility  of  an  accommodation  was  admitted, 
for  it  was  further  asked,  "  What  alteration  may  we  make  in 
our  original  plan  ? "  And  the  answer  was,  "  Our  next  Confer- 
ence will,  if  God  permit,  show  us  more  clearly."  The  subject 
was  not  allowed  to  sleep,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see. 

Fourteen  preachers  were  received  on  trial,  and  eight 
admitted  to  membership.  Among  the  former  was  Caleb  B. 
Pedicord,  one  of  the  saintliest  men  of  his  age.  His  personal 
appearance  is  remembered  as  peculiarly  interesting ;  his  as- 
pect was  beautiful  in  its  combined  expression  of  intelligence, 
and  moral  refinement.  His  voice,  in  both  singing  and 
preaching,  had  a  dissolving  power  of  tenderness.  Marvels  are 
told  of  the  quiet,  pathetic  force  of  his  sermons.  He  continued 
in  the  itinerancy  till  his  death,  traveling  and  preaching  with 
great  popularity  in  Maryland,  Delaware,  New  Jersey,  and 
Yirginia.  Soon  after  he  had  entered  upon  his  circuit,  in  Dor- 
chester County,  Md.,  he  was  attacked,  on  the  highway,  till  the 
blood  dripped  down  his  person.  He  took  shelter  in  the  house 
of  a  friend,  and,  while  his  stripes  were  being  washed,  a  brother 
of  his  assailant  entered,  and  ascertaining  the  cruel  grievance, 
mounted  his  horse  and  hastily  rode  away,  indignantly  threat- 
ening to  chastise  the  persecutor.  The  latter  was  soon  over- 
taken, and  so  severely  beaten  that  he  promised  never  to  trouble 


156  HISTORY    OF    THE 

another  itinerant.  Pedicord  could  not  approve  such  a  vindi- 
cation ;  but  he  might  well  rejoice  afterward  over  one  of  those 
striking  coincidences  which  so  often  attended  the  labors  and 
sufferings  of  the  early  itinerants,  for  both  these  brothers  were 
subsequently  seen  sitting,  "in  their  right  minds,"  in  the  com- 
munion of  the  persecuted  Methodists.  The  itinerant  bore  the 
scars  of  his  wounds  to  his  grave. 

A  memorable  instance  of  his  usefulness  occurred  on  this 
circuit.  He  was  an  excellent  singer  ;  while  riding  slowly  on  the 
highway  to  an  appointment  at  Mount  Holly  he  was  singing, 

"  I  cannot,  I  cannot  forbear 

These  passionate  longings  for  home ; 
0 !  when  shall  my  spirit  be  there  ? 

0  !  when  will  the  messenger  come  ?  " 

A  young  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  wandering  in  a  neighbor- 
ing forest,  heard  him,  and  "  was  deeply  touched  not  only  with 
the  melody  of  his  voice,  which  was  among  the  best  he  ever 
heard,  but  with  the  words,  especially  the  last  couplet." 
"  After  he  ceased,"  writes  the  listener,  "  I  went  out  and  fol- 
lowed him  a  great  distance,  hoping  he  would  begin  again. 
He,  however,  stopped  at  the  house  of  a  Methodist  and  dis- 
mounted. I  then  concluded  he  must  be  a  Methodist  Preacher, 
and  would  probably  preach  that  evening."  That  evening  the 
youthful  soldier  heard  him,  and  Caleb  B.  Pedicord  thus  be- 
came "  the  spiritual  father  "  of  Thomas  Ware,  one  of  the  most 
pure-minded  and  successful  of  early  Methodist  itinerants — for 
fifty  years  a  founder  of  the  denomination  from  New  Jersey  to 
Tennessee,  from  Massachusetts  to  the  Carolinas,  and,  by  his 
pen,  one  of  the  best  contributors  to  its  early  history. 

John  Tunnell  was  received  on  probation  at  the  Conference 
of  this  year ;  a  name  fragrant  to  the  Methodists  of  that  early 
day,  though  familiar  to  few  of  our  times.  "  He  was  truly  an 
apostolic  man  ;  his  heavenly-mindedness  seemed  to  shine  on  his 
face,  and  made  him  appear  more  like  an  inhabitant  of  heaven 
than  of  earth."  After  several  years  of  indefatigable  labors  in 
the  Middle  States,  he  was  sent,  by  the  Conference  in  1787, 
with  four  itinerants,  among  whom  was  young  Thomas  Ware, 
beyond  the  mountains,  to  the  "  Holston  country,  now  called 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  157 

East  Tennessee."  He  thus  scaled  the  Alleghanies,  and, 
though  comparatively  forgotten  by  us,  takes  historical  rank 
among  the  founders  of  Methodism  in  the  great  valley  of  the 
"West,  its  most  important  arena.  He  died  near  "  Sweet 
Springs,"  in  July,  1790 ;  his  brethren  bore  his  remains  over 
the  mountains,  about  five  miles  east  of  the  Sweet  Springs. 
Asbury  preached  his  funeral  sermon  at  Dew's  Chapel,  and  in- 
terred him  there,  among  the  hills  of  Western  Virginia,  where 
he  sleeps  without  a  memorial. 

William  Gill  was  the  bosom  friend  of  John  Tunnell,  and 
one  of  the  most  eminent  itinerants  of  his  times ;  yet,  like  his 
heroic  friend,  is  hardly  known  in  our  day.  He  was  a  native 
of  Delaware,  and  the  first  Methodist  traveling  preacher  raised 
up  in  that  state ;  a  man  of  superior  intellect  and  acquisitions, 
which  so  impressed  Dr.  Rush,  who  attended  him  during  a 
period  of  sickness  in  Philadelphia,  as  to  dispose  that  great  man 
ever  afterward  to  defend  the  Methodist  ministry  against  the 
prevalent  imputations  of  ignorance  and  fanaticism.  His  last 
field  was  Kent  Circuit,  Md.,  in  1788,  where  he  died  declaring 
"  all  is  well,"  and  closed  his  eyes  with  his  own  hands  as  he  ex- 
pired. Of  these  men,  once  so  deservedly  eminent,  but  now  so 
slightly  known,  one  of  their  best  contemporaries  (Thomas 
Ware)  says  that  next  to  Asbury,  "  in  the  estimation  of  many 
stood  the  placid  Tunnell,  the  philosophic  Gill,  and  the  pathetic 
Pedicord." 

These  were  not  the  only  important  men  who  appeared  in  the 
itinerancy  at  this  period.  Reuben  Ellis  was  another ;  he  was 
born  in  North  Carolina,  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  itinerants 
raised  up  in  that  state.  During  nearly  twenty  years  he  trav- 
ersed the  colonies  from  Pennsylvania  to  Georgia,  "  sounding 
the  alarm"  amid  the  din  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  He  fell 
at  his  post  in  Baltimore,  in  1796,  "leaving  few  behind  him 
who  were,  in  every  respect,  his  equals."  John  Dickins  was 
also  a  notable  Evangelist  of  these  times.  He  traveled  exten- 
sively in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  from  1777  till  1782,  when 
he  located,  but  continued  to  labor  diligently  in  the  latter 
state.  Asbury  met  him  there  in  1780,  when  Dickins  framed 
a  subscription  paper  for  a  seminary,  on  the  plan  of  Wesley's 


158  HISTORY   OF   THE 

Kingswood  School ;  the  first  project  of  a  literary  institution 
among  American  Methodists.  It  resulted  in  Cokesbury  Col- 
lege. At  the  close  of  the  war  Asbury  induced  him  to  go  to  New 
York,  where  he  took  charge  of  John-street  Church  in  1783. 
In  1789  he  was  stationed  in  Philadelphia,  and  there  began 
one  of  the  greatest  institutions  of  American  Methodism,  its 
."  Book  Concern ;"  there  also  he  departed  to  heaven  by  a 
triumphant  death,  in  the  memorable  outbreak  of  the  yellow 
fever  in  1798.  He  was  one  of  the  ablest  preachers  of  the 
early  Methodist  ministry ;  a  good  scholar ;  singularly  wise  and 
influential  in  counsel,  and  mighty  in  the  pulpit — "  one  of  the 
greatest  and  best  men  of  that  age ;  as  it  was  said  of  White- 
field,  he  preached  like  a  lion." 

In  reviewing  the  recruits  of  the  ministry  for  this  year,  a 
Methodist  historian  remarks  that  "never  before  had  such  a  class 
of  strong  men,  such  talented  and  useful  preachers,  entered  into 
the  itinerancy,  to  labor  in  the  American  field  of  Methodism." 

The  sixth  Annual  Conference  began  at  Leesburgh,  Va.,  on 
the  19th  of  May,  1778.  It  was  the  first  session  held  in  that 
province,  then  the  chief  field  of  Methodism,  comprising  nearly 
two  thirds  of  its  members.  But  a  graver  reason  led  the  Con- 
ference to  this  interior  and  comparatively  remote  locality. 
It  was  a  desolate  year  to  both  the  country  and  the  Church. 
Philadelphia  and  New  York  were  both  in  possession  of  the 
British ;  the  waters  of  Maryland  were  occupied  by  the  royal 
fleet,  and  general  dismay  prevailed.  All  the  English  itiner- 
ants, save  Asbury,  had  fled,  and  he  was  in  confinement  at 
the  house  of  Judge  White.  The  statistics  of  the  Conference 
show  the  effect  of  the  public  troubles.  Its  Minutes  barely 
occupy  a  page  in  print;  the  returns  of  the  individual 
circuits  are  not  given ;  the  aggregate  membership  is  hastily 
inserted,  and  is  but  6,095,  showing  a  loss  of  873.  The  minis- 
try has  diminished  from  38  to  30 ;  the  list  of  circuits  indicates 
important  changes :  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Norfolk,  and 
others  are  omitted,  amounting  to  no  less  than  five ;  but  there 
is  an  addition  of  six,  making  fifteen,  a  gain  of  one. 

As  Eankin  had  retreated  and  Asbury  was  in  seclusion, 
William  Watters,  the  senior  native  itinerant,  presided  at  this 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  159 

Conference,  though  he  was  not  yet  twenty-seven  years  old. 
Watters  says  of  the  session  that,  "  As  the  consideration  of  the 
administration  of  the  ordinances  was  laid  over,  at  the  last 
Conference,  till  this,  it  of  course  came  up  and  found  many 
advocates.  It  was  with  considerable  difficulty  that  a  large 
majority  was  prevailed  on  to  lay  it  over  again  till  the  next 
Conference,  hoping  that  we  should,  by  that  time,  be  able  to 
see  our  way  more  clear  in  so  important  a  change.'"  The  con- 
troversy will  soon  culminate,  amid  general  alarm  and  no  little 
peril,  but  it  will  finally  prove  itself  to  have  been  one  of  the 
most  providential  events  of  the  incipient  history  of  the  denom- 
ination, the  provocation  and  reason  of  its  effective  and  perma- 
nent organization.  About  half  the  probationers,  received  at 
this  time,  traveled  but  two  or  three  years.  Some  of  the  others 
became  more  or  less  distinguished  in  the  Church.  One  of 
them,  James  O'Kelly,  will  hereafter  appear  in  an  unfortunate 
contest  with  the  denomination ;  in  these  early  times,  however, 
he  was  highly  esteemed  for  his  talents  and  his  fervent  devotion. 

Henry  Willis  is  another  pre-eminent  name.  He  was  the 
first  man  that  Asbury  ordained  deacon  and  elder  after  the 
Christmas  Conference.  After  years  of  apostolic  labors  his 
lungs  failed,  but  he  had  such  an  estimate  of  the  ministerial 
vocation  that  he  deemed  it  his  duty  never  to  abandon  his  post 
till  death  should  cancel  his  commission.  The  Minutes  speak 
of  him  as  "  a  great  man  of  God,  who  extended  his  labors  from 
New  York,  in  the  North,  to  Charleston,  in  the  South,  and  to 
the  Western  waters.  In  these  stations  the  name  of  Willis  will 
be  held  in  venerable  remembrance."  He  was  the  first  Meth- 
odist preacher  stationed  in  Charleston,  and  one  of  the  first  who 
pioneered  Methodism  across  the  Alleghanies. 

Two  Conferences  were  held  in  the  year  1779.  The  first  was 
at  the  house  of  Judge  White,  Kent  County,  Del.,  on  the  28th 
of  April,  to  accommodate  Asbury  (who  was  confined  there) 
and  the  preachers  east  of  the  Potomac ;  the  second  at  Fluvan- 
na, Va.,  on  the  18th  of  May.  Though  their  records  are 
distinct  in  the  Minutes,  they  have  been  deemed  one  Confer- 
ence. The  sacramental  controversy  was  still  rife  among  the 
preachers  in  Virginia,  and  Asbury  doubtless  hoped,  by  the 


160  IIISTORY   OF    THE 

more  northern,  anticipatory  session,  to  forestall  its  threatened 
issues.  Sixteen  preachers,  probably  the  whole  number  present, 
including  Asbury  and  Watters,  pledged  themselves  "  to  take 
the  station  this  Conference  shall  place  them  in,  and  continue  till 
the  next  Conference ; "  implying,  it  would  seem,  an  apprehen- 
sion that  the  regular  session  at  Fluvanna  might  dissent  from 
the  proceedings  at  Kent.  Preachers  were  ordered  to  meet  the 
classes,  at  all  their  appointments  if  possible,  and  to  meet  the 
children  once  a  fortnight,  and  counsel  parents  "  with  regard  to 
their  conduct  toward  them."  The  term  of  ministerial  proba- 
tion was  changed  from  one  year  to  two.  Anticipating,  prob- 
ably, the  proceedings  at  Fluvanna,  the  question  was  asked, 
"  Shall  we  guard  against  a  separation  from  the  Church  direct 
or  indirect?"  and  answered,  "By  all  means."  Asbury  wTas 
recognized  as  "  General  Assistant  in  America." 

The  statistics  of  the  year  are  given  only  in  the  Minutes  of 
the  Fluvanna  session.  Eleven  preachers  were  reported  on 
trial.  The  whole  number  of  traveling  preachers  was  forty -four,* 
a  gain  of  fourteen.  The  circuits  numbered  twenty,  a  gain  of 
five.  The  returns  of  members  amounted  to  8,577,  the  increase 
to  2,482.  The  success  of  the  year  had  been  unexpectedly 
great,  considering  the  tumults  of  the  period.  Lee  says  that 
"  in  some  places  the  work  of  the  Lord  spread  rapidly,  and  bore 
down  all  before  it.  But  in  many  places  the  Societies  were 
thrown  into  great  disorder  and  confusion,  by  reason  of  the 
war  which  continued  to  rage  through  the  land."  We  have, 
from  the  manuscript  Journal  of  Gatch,  the  leader  of  the  Flu- 
vanna session,  a  fuller  view  of  the  sacramental  controversy ;  the 
great  fact  in  its  proceedings,  though  entirely  omitted  in  its 
published  Minutes.  This  momentous  question  had  been 
broached  in  the  first  American  Conference,  1773.  At  the  ses- 
sion of  1777  it  was  not  dismissed,  but  only  postponed  to  the 
ensuing  session ;  at  the  latter  it  was  again  postponed  until 
the  session  of  1779.  The  Fluvanna  Conference  being  the 
"  regularly  appointed  "  session  of  this  year,  had  the  question 
therefore  legitimately  before  it — referred  directly  to  it  by  the 

*  The  Minutes  say  forty-nine ;  but  repeat  those  on  Baltimore  and  Frederick 
Circuits. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  161 

preceding  session.  As  a  further  reason  for  determining  the 
controversy,  they  said,  "  The  Episcopal  Establishment  is  now 
dissolved  in  this  country ;  and,  therefore,  in  almost  all  our  cir- 
cuits the  members  are  without  the  ordinances."  They  ap- 
pointed "a  committee" — Gatch,  Foster,  Cole,  and  Ellis — and 
constituted  it  "a  Presbytery:"  "first,  to  administer  the  ordi- 
nances themselves ;  second,  to  authorize  any  other  preacher  or 
preachers,  approved  by  them,  by  the  form  of  laying  on  of 
hands."  The  committee,  or  presbytery,  ordained  one  another, 
and  afterward  such  of  the  preachers  present  "  as  were  desirous 
of  receiving  ordination."  Such  were  the  proceedings  of  the 
Conference  on  this  important  question.  They  were  not  only 
legitimate  but  harmonious.  The  Fluvanna  Conference  not 
only  included  a  majority  of  the  preachers  and  circuits,  but 
comprised,  in  the  list  of  its  appointments,  a  very  prepondera- 
ting majority  of  the  membership  of  the  Church.  "  Most  of  our 
preachers,"  says  Lee,  "  in  the  South  fell  in  with  this  new  plan ; 
and  as  the  leaders  of  the  party  were  very  zealous,  and  the 
greater  part  of  them  very  pious  men,  the  private  members 
were  influenced  by  them  and  pretty  generally  fell  in  with  their 
measures ;  however,  some  of  the  old  Methodists  would  not 
commune  with  them,  but  steadily  adhered  to  their  old  customs. 
There  was  great  cause  to  fear  a  division,  and  both  parties 
trembled  for  the  ark  of  God,  and  shuddered  at  the  thought  of 
dividing  the  Church  of  Christ.  But,  after  all,  they  consented, 
for  the  sake  of  peace  and  the  union  of  the  body  of  Methodists, 
to  drop  the  ordinances,  for  a  season,  till  Mr.  Wesley  could  be 
consulted."  Most  of  the  preachers  who  entered  the  itinerancy 
at  these  two  sessions  retired  after  a  few  years.  The  Fluvanna 
session  had  adjourned  to  Manakintown,  Powhatan  County, 
Ya.,  May  8th,  1780.  But  the  Minutes  give  none  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  this  Conference ;  it  is  unmentioned  in  all  our  con- 
temporary official  documents  ;  the  indirect  indications  of  its 
session  are  so  obscure  that  few  Methodists  are  to-day  aware 
that  any  such  Conference  was  ever  held.  It  did  meet,  how- 
ever, and,  notwithstanding  the  eiforts  made  during  the  preced- 
ing year  to  counteract  the  measures  of  the  Fluvanna  session, 
the  session  at  Manakintown  represented  fully  one  half  the  cir- 

11  • 


162  HISTORY   OF    THE 

cuits  and  nearly  one  half  the  preachers  and  membership  of  the 
denomination.  Asbury,  designated  by  the  informal  session  in 
Kent  to  the  office  of  General  Assistant,  called  a  Conference  of 
the  more  northern  preachers  at  Baltimore,  on  the  24th  of 
April,  and  thus  anticipated  the  Manakintown  session  by  two 
weeks.  Garrettson  justly  says,  "  The  next  Conference  was  ap- 
pointed to  be  held  at  Manakintown,  Ya.,  May,  1780.  Prior 
to  this  Conference  we  northern  preachers  thought  it  expedient, 
for  our  own  convenience,  to  hold  one  in  Baltimore,  at  which 
Messrs.  Asbury,  Watters,  and  Garrettson  were  appointed,  as 
delegates  to  the  Virginia  Conference,  to  bring  them  back  if 
possible  to  our  original  usages.  The  proposition  that  we  made 
to  them  was,  that  they  should  suspend  the  administration  of 
the  ordinances  for  one  year ;  in  the  mean  while  we  would  con- 
sult Mr.  Wesley ;  and  in  the  following  May  we  would  have  a 
union  Conference  in  Baltimore,  and  abide  by  his  judgment. 
To  this  proposal  they  unanimously  agreed ;  and  a  letter,  con- 
taining a  circumstantial  account  of  the  case,  drawn  up  by 
Mr.  Dickins,  was  sent  to  Mr.  Wesley.  In  May,  1781,  we  met 
and  received  Mr.  Wesley's  answer,  which  was,  that  we  should 
continue  on  the  old  plan  until  further  direction.  We  unani- 
mously agreed  to  follow  his  counsel,  and  went  on  harmoniously." 
We  have  the  proceedings  only  of  the  Baltimore  session  of  1780, 
except  the  list  of  appointments  made  at  Manakintown,  which, 
after  the  fortunate  reconciliation  of  the  parties,  was  inserted  in 
the  Minutes  of  the  year,  though  apart  from  the  list  made  at 
Baltimore. 

The  Baltimore  session  was  held  in  the  new  church  on 
Lovely  Lane ;  Asbury,  who  now  finally  ventured  out  of  his  re- 
tirement, presided.  The  minutes  show  twenty  circuits ;  some 
old  ones  disappear,  merged  in  new  ones,  of  which  there  are 
three.  There  are  forty-three  traveling  preachers,  including 
Asbury,  a  decrease  of  one.  Five  are  recorded  as  received  on 
trial,  and  five  "into  full  connection."  The  members  returned 
are  8,504 ;  showing  a  loss  of  seventy-three.  The  Conference 
resolved  to  "  disapprove  the  practice  of  distilling  grain  into 
liquor,  and  disown  all  who  would  not  renounce  it."  Preachers 
holding  slaves  were  required  to  "give  promises  to  set  them 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  163 

free."  It  was  declared  that  "this  Conference  acknowledges 
that  slavery  is  contrary  to  the  laws  of  God,  man,  and  nature, 
and  hurtful  to  society;  contrary  to  the  dictates  of  conscience 
and  pure  religion,  and  doing  that  which  we  would  not  that 
others  should  do  to  us  and  ours ; "  and  that  "  we  do  pass  our 
disapprobation  on  all  our  friends  who  keep  slaves,  and  advise 
their  freedom."  Methodism  thus  early  recorded  its  protest 
against  negro  slavery,  anticipating  its  abolition  in  Massa- 
chusetts by  three  years,  in  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  by 
four  years ;  the  thesis  of  Clarkson,  before  the  University  of 
Cambridge,  by  five  years ;  and  the  ordinance  of  Congress 
against  it,  in  the  Northwestern  Territory,  by  seven  years. 
Respecting  the  proceedings  at  Fluvanna,  it  was  declared  that 
"  this  whole  Conference  disapproves  the  step  taken  by  the 
brethren  in  Virginia ;  "  that  "  we  look  upon  them  no  longer  as 
Methodists,  in  connection  with  Mr.  "Wesley  and  us,  till  they 
come  back ; "  and  Asbury,  Watters,  and  Garrettson  were 
appointed  to  "  attend  the  Virginia  Conference,  to  inform  them 
of  their  proceedings,  and  receive  their  answer."  The  "  con- 
ditions of  union  with  the  Virginia  brethren  "  were,  that  the 
latter  should  "  suspend  all  their  administrations,  and  all  meet 
together  in  Baltimore  the  next  year."  The  three  delegates 
visited  the  Fluvanna  brethren.  Watters  says,  "  After  waiting 
two  days,  and  all  hopes  of  an  accommodation  failing,  we  had 
fixed  on  starting  back  early  in  the  morning ;  but  late  in  the 
evening  it  was  proposed  by  one  of  their  own  party  in  Con- 
ference (none  of  the  others  being  present)  that  there  should  be 
a  suspension  of  the  ordinances  for  the  present  year,  and  that 
our  circumstances  should  be  laid  before  Mr.  Wesley,  and  his 
advice  solicited ;  also  that  Mr.  Asbury  should  be  requested  to 
ride  through  the  different  circuits,  and  superintend  the  work 
at  large.  The  proposal,  in  a  few  minutes,  took  with  all  but  a 
few.  In  the  morning,  instead  of  coming  off  in  despair,  we 
were  invited  to  take  our  seats  again  in  the  Conference,  where, 
with  great  rejoicings  and  praises  to  God,  we,  on  both  sides, 
heartily  agreed  to  the  accommodation.  I  could  not  but  say 
it  is  of  the  Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  marvelous  in  our  eyes." 
Few  of  the  preachers  who  began  their  ministerial  travels 


164  HISTORY   OF   THE 

this  year  continued  long  in  the  itinerant  service.  Half  of 
them  at  least  retired,  in  from  two  to  five  years.  Some,  how- 
ever, were  eminent  in  their  day  either  for  talents  or  for 
services  before  or  after  their  location. 

In  1781  a  preparatory  Conference  was  held  by  Asbury  and 
about  twenty  preachers  at  Judge  White's,  in  Delaware,  on 
the  16th  of  April ;  but  the  regular  session  began  in  Baltimore 
on  the  24th.  The  restoration  of  harmony  seemed  now  nearly 
complete.  Asbury  wrote  at  the  Baltimore  session  :  "  All  but 
one  agreed  to  return  to  the  old  plan  and  give  up  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  ordinances.  Our  troubles  now  seem  over  from 
that  quarter,  and  there  appears  to  be  a  considerable  change  in 
the  preachers  from  North  to  South.  All  was  conducted  in 
peace  and  love."  Their  restored  harmony  was  confirmed  by 
the  evident  blessing  of  God  upon  the  labors  of  the  past  year. 
No  less  than  10,539  members  were  reported,  showing  an  in- 
crease of  2,035.  Lee  records  that  "  the  Lord  had  wonderfully 
favored  the  traveling  preachers,  so  that  we  spread  our  borders, 
and  our  numbers  increased  abundantly."  There  were  twenty- 
five  circuits,  a  gain  of  five  ;  and  fifty-five  preachers,  including 
Asbury,  a  gain  of  twelve.  Deducting  the  "  locations,"  the 
ministerial  additions  were  no  less  than  seventeen.  Thirty- 
nine  preachers,  probably  all  who  were  present  save  one, 
subscribed  a  declaration  of  their  determination  "  to  discoun- 
tenance a  separation  among  either  preachers  or  people,"  and 
"  to  preach  the  old  Methodist  doctrine,  and  strictly  enforce  the 
Discipline,  as  contained  in  the  Notes,  Sermons,  and  Minutes 
published  by  Wesley."  Of  the  more  than  10,500  Methodists 
now  reported  in  the  country,  there  were  but  873  north  of  the 
southern  boundary  of  Pennsylvania ;  9,666  were  below  it. 

Philip  Bruce,  of  North  Carolina,  was  now  received  on  pro- 
bation. He  was  of  Huguenotic  descent,  a  soldier  of  the  Revo- 
lution, and  one  of  the  most  laborious  founders  of  the  Church 
in  the  South.  For  thirty-six  years  he  bore  faithfully  the 
standard  of  the  Gospel  as  an  itinerant.  He  closed  his  useful 
life  the  oldest  traveling  preacher  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States,  except  Freeborn  Garrettson. 
He  was  a  man  of  high  and  firm  character  and  intellect. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  165 

Joseph  Everett,  a  native  of  Maryland,  now  also  joined  the 
itinerancy.  He  was  long  known  in  the  Middle  States  as  one 
of  the  veterans  of  Methodism ;  a  man  of  unique  character,  of 
exhaustless  energy,  profound  piety,  and  extraordinary  suc- 
cess. He  has  been  called  "  the  roughest-spoken  preacher  that 
ever  stood  in  the  itinerant  ranks."  He  describes  himself  as 
having  been  one  of  Bunyan's  "biggest  Jerusalem  sinners." 
An  historian  of  Methodism  (Bangs)  who  knew  him,  and  who 
pronounces  him  "  a  remarkable  man,"  says,  "  he  was  indeed 
anointed  of  God  to  preach  the  Gospel.  He  was  eminently 
distinguished  for  the  boldness,  the  pointedness,  and  energy 
with  which  he  rebuked  sin  and  warned  sinners  of  their 
danger.  And  these  searching  appeals  to  the  consciences  of  his 
hearers  made  them  tremble  under  the  fearful  apprehension  of 
the  wrath  of  God,  and  their  high  responsibility  to  him  for 
their  conduct.  Great  was  the  success  which  attended  his 
faithful  admonitions;  for  wherever  he  went  he  was  like  a 
flame  of  fire."  For  about  thirty  years  it  may  be  said  that  he 
thundered  the  truth  through  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Dela- 
ware, Maryland,  and  Yirginia.  The  Conference,  in  recording 
his  death,  said  that  wherever  he  traveled  he  u  proclaimed  the 
thunders  of  Sinai  against  the  wicked,  and  the  terrors  of  the 
Lord  against  the  .ungodly.  Few  men  in  the  ministry  were 
ever  more  zealous  and  laborious.  He  feared  the  face  of  no 
man.  He  spent  his  time,  his  talents,  his  all,  in  the  service  of 
the  connection."  The  closing  scene  of  his  life  is  recorded  as 
"  very  remarkable."  He  died  in  1809,  in  his  seventy-eighth 
year,  under  the  roof  of  his  friend  Dr.  White,  where  he  had 
often  found  an  asylum.  About  midnight  he  awoke  from  a 
tranquil  slumber,  and  "  immediately  his  devout  and  pious  soul 
•entered  into  an  uncommon  ecstasy  of  joy;  with  exclamations 
of  adoration,  in  raptures,  he  shouted  for  twenty-five  minutes, 
'  Glory !  glory  !  glory  ! '  and  then  ceased  to  shout  and  ceased 
to  breathe  at  once." 

The  ministry,  now  more  than  half  a  hundred  strong,  was 
fast  becoming  a  great  power  in  the  land.  It  already  included 
men  of  gigantic  moral  and  intellectual  stature,  and  they  kept 
most  of  the  middle  and  southern   colonies  astir   with  their 


166  HISTORY    OF    THE 

ceaseless  proclamations  of  the  truth  amid  the  distractions  of 
the  war.  No  thoughtful  observer  could  fail  to  perceive  that 
the  energies  and  materials  of  a  mighty  ecclesiastical  structure, 
probably  to  be  coextensive  with  the  continent,  were  being 
gathered  and  consolidated,  and  must,  if  overtaken  by  no  early 
disaster,  assume  before  long  firm  foundations  and  impregna- 
ble strength.  Happily  the  war  was  now  ending ;  the  British 
forces  surrendered  in  the  autumn  at  Yorktown,  and  with  the 
return  of  peace  the  whole  land  was  to  open  as  the  arena  of 
the  heroic  evangelists. 

The  Conference  of  1782  held  two  sessions ;  the  first  on  the 
17th  of  April,  at  Ellis's  Chapel,  Sussex  County,  Ya.,  the 
second  on  the  21st  of  May,  at  Baltimore.  They  are  recorded 
in  the  Minutes  as  one  Conference.  It  was,  in  fine,  now  under- 
stood that  two  sessions  should  be  held  annually  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  widely-dispersed  preachers ;  but  the  legislative 
power  of  the  body  was  limited  to  the  oldest  or  more  northern 
portion  of  the  ministry. 

Asbury  says  of  the  Yirginia  session  that  "as  there  had 
been  much  distress  felt  by  those  of  Yirginia,  relative  to  the 
administration  of  the  ordinances,  I  proposed,  to  such  as  were 
so  disposed,  to  enter  into  a  written  agreement  to  cleave  to  the 
old  plan  in  which  we  had  been  so  greatly  blessed,  that  we 
might  have  the  greater  confidence  in  each  other,  and  know  on 
whom  to  depend.  This  instrument  was  signed  by  the  greater 
part  of  the  preachers  without  hesitation.  Next  morning  I 
preached  on  Phil,  ii,  1-5.  I  had  liberty,  and  it  pleased  God 
to  set  it  home.  One  of  the  preachers,  James  HaW,  who  had 
his  difficulties,  was  delivered  from  them  all ;  and  with  the  ex- 
ception of  one,  all  the  signatures  of  the  preachers  present  were 
obtained.  We  received  seven  into  connection,  and  four  re- 
mained on  trial.  At  noon  Mr.  Jarratt  spoke  on  the  union  of 
the  attributes."  His  Journal  affords  us  but  few  intimations 
of  the  Baltimore  session.  On  Monday,  the  20th  of  May,  he 
says  :  "  A  few  of  us  began  Conference  in  Baltimore ;  next  day 
we  had  a  full  meeting.  The  preachers  all  signed  the  agree- 
ment proposed  at  the  Yirginia  Conference,  and  there  was  a 
unanimous  resolve  to  adhere  to  the  old  Methodist  plan.    We 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  167 

spent  most  of  the  day  in  examining  the  preachers.  "We 
had  regular  daily  preaching.  Wednesday,  22,  we  had  many 
things  before  us.  Our  printing  plan  was  suspended  for  the 
present  for  want  of  funds.  Friday,  24,  was  set  apart  for  fast- 
ing and  prayer.  We  had  a  love-feast ;  the  Lord  was  present, 
and  all  was  well.  We  have  now  fifty-nine  traveling  preachers, 
and  eleven  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-five  in  Society. 
Our  young  men  are  serious,  and  their  gifts  are  enlarged." 
The  statistics  of  the  year  show  continued  prosperity.  The 
membership,  amounting  to  11,785,  showed  an  increase  of 
1,246.  There  were  sixty  preachers,  including  Asbury,  a  gain 
of  five ;  thirteen  candidates  were  received  on  trial,  and  twenty- 
six  circuits  were  recorded  on  the  roll  of  appointments. 

The  Conference  unanimously  recognized  Asbury  as  General 
Assistant,  "according  to  Mr.  Wesley's  original  appointment" 
before  the  arrival  of  Bankin.  It  was  ordained,  for  the  first 
time,  that  a  certificate  of  membership  should  be  required  of 
laymen  removing  from  one  Society  to  another.  The  times 
and  places  of  the  sessions  of  the  ensuing  year  also  occur,  for 
the  first  time,  in  the  Minutes. 

In  1783  the  Conference  held  its  two  sessions  again  at  Ellis's 
Preaching -house,  Sussex  County,  Ya.,  and  Baltimore,  Md., 
the  former  on  the  7th,  the  latter  on  the  27th,  oi*  May.  Asbury 
says  of  the  former,  "  Some  young  laborers  were  taken  in  to 
assist  in  spreading  the  Gospel,  which  greatly  prospers  in  the 
North.  We  all  agreed  in  the  spirit  of  African  liberty,  and 
strong  testimonies  were  borne  in  its  favor  in  our  love-feast ; 
our  affairs  were  conducted  in  love."  Of  the  Baltimore  session 
he  merely  remarks  that  on  Tuesday  "  we  began  our  Confer- 
ence with  what  preachers  were  present.  On  Wednesday  we 
had  a  full  assembly,  which  lasted  until  Friday.  We  had  a 
love-feast,  and  parted  in  peace."  Garrettson  says  there  "  were 
about  sixty  preachers  "  at  Baltimore,"  "  all  of  whom  appeared 
to  be  in  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel."  The  year  had  been  prosper- 
ous; 13,740  members  were  reported,  showing  an  increase  of 
1,955.  There  were  now  but  1,623  Methodists  north  of  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line,  12,117  south  of  it.  There  were  thirty-nine 
circuits.     The  corps  of  itinerants  had  increased  from  sixty  to 


168  HISTORY    OF    THE 

eighty-two,  including  Asbury.  The  most  important  measures 
of  this  Conference  were,  like  those  of  the  preceding  year, 
initiated  at  the  Virginia  session,  though  dependent  for  their 
validity  on  that  of  Maryland.  It  took  high  "  temperance  " 
ground.  We  have  seen  that  in  1780  the  distillation  of  ardent 
spirits  was  denounced,  and  all  Methodists  who  would  not  "  re- 
nounce the  practice  "  were  to  be  "  disowned."  This  year  the 
Conference  declared  the  manufacture,  or  sale,  or  use  of  them 
"  as  drams,"  to  be  "  wrong  in  its  nature  and  consequences," 
and  ordered  its  preachers  "  to  teach  the  people  to  put  away 
this  evil."  It  took  another  bold  position,  strikingly  significant 
for  the  time  and  the  place.  Asbury 's  allusion  to  the  Yirginia 
session  shows  that  there  was  no  little  popular  ardor  for  "  Afri- 
can liberty,"  among  both  preachers  and  people,  in  that  region. 
At  the  session  of  1780  slavery  was  denounced,  and  "  traveling 
preachers,"  owning  slaves,  were  required  to  emancipate  them. 
At  Ellis's  Preaching-house  it  was  now  required  that  "  Local 
Preachers "  should  follow  this  example,  wherever  the  civil 
laws  would  allow  them.  The  Revolutionary  struggle  of  the 
country  had  produced  a  general  sentiment  in  favor  of  the 
liberty  of  all  men.  Methodism  was  now  imbued  with  this 
sentiment,  and  gave  at  this  time,  and  for  some  years,  a  more 
articulate  expression  of  it  than  any  other  religious  community 
of  the  land,  not  excepting  the  Society  of  Friends  ;  but  it  at 
last  fatally  compromised  its  primitive  convictions,  and  thereby 
entailed  lamentable  disasters  upon  itself,  if  not  upon  the  whole 
nation.  There  were  some  married  preachers  in  the  itinerant 
ranks,  and  it  became  necessary  to  provide  better  support  for 
their  families.  Eleven  "preachers'  wives  "  are  named  "  to  be 
provided  for."  They  probably  were  most,  if  not  all,  who  per- 
tained to  the  ministry,  a  fact  which  indicates  that  about  seven- 
ty-one, out  of  the  eighty  itinerants,  were  yet  practically  bound 
to  celibacy,  the  necessity  of  their  hard  lot. 

Twenty  preachers  are  recorded,  for  the  first- time,  in  the  ap- 
pointments of  this  year.  Most  of  them  traveled  but  few  years. 
Jesse  Lee,  the  first  historian  of  American  Methodism,  and  its 
founder  in  New  England,  was  received  at  this  Conference. 
The  itinerancy  made  one  of  its  most  important  acquisitions, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  169 

this  year,  in  Thomas  Ware,  of  New  Jersey,  a  man  of  admira- 
ble character,  and  an  able  and  faithful  laborer,  who  lived  far 
into  our  own  century.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution- 
ary War  he  responded  to  the  call  of  his  country,  and  entered 
the  army.  Though  he  had  not  yet  made  profession  of  a  relig- 
ious life,  he  began  his  new  career  with  manly  and  even  devout 
sentiments.  He  was  resolutely  temperate  in  the  camp,  pour- 
ing upon  the  ground  the  strong  drink  given  with  his  rations. 
He  continued  in  the  service  till  dismissed,  as  an  invalid,  suffer- 
ing from  "  camp  fever,"  which  "  cost  him  several  years  of  the 
prime  of  his  life."  One  day  he  observed  Pedicord  riding  into 
Mount  Holly,  singing  a  hymn,  as  we  have  noticed.  He  fol- 
lowed the  itinerant  a  "great  distance,"  fascinated  by  the 
pathos  of  his  voice,  and  that  night  heard  him  preach.  "  When 
the  meeting  closed,"  he  says,  "  I  hastened  to  my  lodgings, 
retired  to  my  room,  fell  upon  my  knees  before  God,  and  spent 
much  of  the  night  in  penitential  tears.  Pedicord  returned  to 
our  village.  I  hastened  to  see  him,  and  tell  him  all  that  wa£ 
in  my  heart.  He  shed  tears  over  me,  and  prayed.  I  was 
dissolved  in  tears.  He  prayed  again.  My  soul  was  filled 
with  unutterable  delight.  He  now  rejoiced  over  me  as  a  son, 
'  an  heir  of  God,  and  a  joint  heir  with  Christ.'  "  He  joined 
the  Methodists,  was  made  a  Class  Leader,  and,  not  long  after, 
an  Exhorter.  He  possessed  lively  faculties,  readiness  of  speech, 
and  a  pathos  which  gave  him  "  the  eloquence  of  tears." 

About  three  months  after  the  Conference  of  this  year, 
Asbury,  rejoicing  over  the  increasing  prosperity  of  the  denom- 
ination, wrote  to  his  old  fellow-laborer,  George  Shadford,  then 
in  England,  a  letter  which  affords  us  some  historical  intima- 
tions of  the  times.  u  Long  has k  been  thy  absence,"  he  says ; 
"  many,  many  have  been  the  thoughts  I  have  had  about  thee, 
and  my  trials  and  consolations  in  losing  and  gaining  friends. 
We  have  about  14,000  members,  between  70  and  80  traveling 
preachers,  between  30  and  40  circuits.  Four  clergymen  have 
behaved  themselves  friendly  in  attending  Quarterly  Meetings, 
and  recommending  us  by  word  and  letter.  They  are,  Mr. 
Jarratt,  in  Virginia,  as  you  know ;  Mr.  Pettigrew,  North  Car- 
olina; Dr.  M'Gaw,  Philadelphia;  and  Mogden,  in  East  Jersey. 


170  HISTORY   OF    THE 

You  have  heard  of  the  divisions  about  that  improper  question 
proposed  at  Deer  Creek  Conference :  '  What  shall  be  done 
about  the  ordinances  ?  ?  You  know  we  stood  foot  by  foot  to 
oppose  it.  God  has  brought  good  out  of  evil,  and  it  has  so 
cured  them  that  I  think  there  will  never  be  anything  formi- 
dable in  that  way  again.  I  admire  the  simplicity  of  our 
preachers.  I  do  not  think  there  has  appeared  another  such  a 
company  of  young  devoted  men.  The  Gospel  has  taken  a 
universal  spread.  I  travel  4,000  miles  in  a  year,  all  weathers, 
among  rich  and  poor,  Dutch  and  English.  O  my  dear  Shad- 
ford,  it  would  take  a  month  to  write  out  and  speak  what  I  want 
you  to  know.  The  most  momentous  is  my  constant  commun- 
ion with  God  as  my  God ;  my  glorious  victory  over  the  world 
and  the  devil.  I  am  continually  with  God.  I  preach  fre- 
quently, and  with  more  enlargement  of  heart  than  ever.  O 
America!  America!  it  certainly  will  be  the  glory  of  the 
world  for  religion  !  " 

The  Conference  held  two  sessions  in  the  year  1784,  the  first 
at  Ellis's  Preaching-house,  Yirginia,  on  the  30th  of  April,  the 
second  in  Baltimore  on  the  25th  of  May.  An  extraordinary 
session,  forever  memorable  as  the  "  Christmas  Conference," 
was  also  held  at  the  close  of  the  year  in  Baltimore,  but  its  mo- 
mentous proceedings  claim  separate  consideration.  The  two 
regular  sessions  are  reported,  as  one  Conference,  in  the  official 
Minutes.  Asbury  alludes  but  briefly  to  the  Yirginia  session. 
On  the  29th  of  April  he  writes  that  he  "  rode  to  Ellis's  Chapel, 
in  Sussex  County,  where  we  held  our  Conference  the  two  ensu- 
ing days.  Brother  O'Kelly  gave  us  a  good  sermon  :  '  I  keep 
under  my  body,  and  bring  it  into  subjection,'  etc.  Mr.  Jar- 
ratt  gave  us  a  good  discourse  on  1  Tim.  1,  4.  Our  business 
was  conducted  with  uncommon  love  and  unity.  From  this 
Conference  I  proceeded  on  and  crossed  James  Eiver,  on  my 
way  to  the  North,  and  was  led  to  cry  to  God  to  go  with  us  and 
meet  us  there."  He  reached  Baltimore  on  the  20th  of  May, 
after  a  ride  of  fifty  miles,  and  on  the  25th  opened  the  second 
session.  Young  Thomas  Ware  was  present.  He  says :  "  It 
was  the  first  I  attended.  There  was  quite  a  number  of  preach- 
ers present.     Although  there  were  but  few  on  whose  heads 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  171 

time  had  begun  to  snow,  yet  several  of  them  appeared  to  be 
way-worn  and  weather-beaten  into  premature  old  age.  I 
doubt  whether  there  ever  has  been  a  Conference  among  us  in 
which  an  equal  number  could  be  found,  in  proportion  to  the 
whole,  so  dead  to  the  world,  and  so  gifted  and  enterprising  as 
were  present  at  that  of  1784.  They  had  much  to  suffer  at  that 
early  period  of  our  history,  and  especially  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary struggle.  Among  these  pioneers,  Asbury,  by  common 
consent,  stood  first  and  chief.  There  was  something  in  his 
person,  his  eye,  his  mien,  and  in  the  music  of  his  voice,  which 
interested  all  who  saw  and  heard  him.  He  possessed  much 
natural  wit,  and  was  capable  of  the  severest  satire ;  but  grace 
and  good  sense  so  far  predominated  that  he  never  descended 
to  anything  beneath  the  dignity  of  a  man  and  a  Christian 
minister.  In  prayer  he  excelled."  "  He  prayed,"  says  Gar- 
rettson,  "  the  best,  and  prayed  the  most,  of  any  man  I  ever 
knew." 

The  returns  of  members  amounted  to  14,988,  showing  an 
increase  of  1,248.  There  were  but  1,607  Methodists  north  of 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  and  13,381  south  of  it.  There  were 
eighty-four  itinerant  preachers,  a  gain  of  but  two,  though  at 
least  fifteen  new  laborers  were  received.  Thirteen,  or  nearly 
one  sixth  of  the  whole  ministry  of  the  preceding  year,  must, 
therefore,  have  retired  from  the  ranks.  Forty-six  circuits  were 
reported  ;  their  increase  was  seven.  It  was  ordered  at  these 
sessions  that  subscriptions  for  the  erection  or  relief  of  chapels 
should  be  made  on  all  the  circuits,  the  preachers  to  "  insist  that 
every  member  who  is  not  supported  by  charity  "  should  "  give 
something;"  that  members  who  "buy  and  sell  slaves,"  if 
"  they  buy  with  no  other  design  than  to  hold  them  as  slaves, 
and  have  been  previously  warned,  shall  be  expelled,  and  be 
permitted  to  sell  on  no  consideration ;"  and  that  "  Local 
Preachers  who  will  not  emancipate  their  slaves  in  states  where 
the  laws  admit,"  shall  be  called  to  account ;  those  in  Virginia 
"  to  be  borne  with  another  year,"  those  in  Maryland,  Dela- 
ware, Pennsylvania,  and  New  Jersey  to  be  suspended ;  that 
"  traveling  preachers  who  now  are  or  hereafter  shall  be  pos- 
sessed of  slaves,  and  shall  refuse  to  manumit  them,  where  the 


172  HISTORY    OF   THE 

laws  permit,"  shall  "  be  employed  no  more."  Asbury's  "  al- 
lowance," as  General  Assistant  or  Superintendent,  was  fixed  at 
twenty-four  pounds  ($60)  per  annum,  "  with  his  expenses  for 
horses  and  traveling." 

Lee  states  that  there  was  "  a  gracious  revival  this  year  in 
many  of  the  frontier  circuits,  and  the  way  was  opening  fast 
for  us  to  enlarge  our  borders,  to  spread  the  Gospel  through 
various  places  where  we  had  never  been  before.  The  call  of 
the  people  was  great  for  more  laborers  to  be  sent  into  the  har- 
vest." Some  of  the  new  circuits  indicate  this  extension  of 
Methodism  on  the  frontiers.  In  the  preceding  year  Jeremiah 
Lambert  had  charge  of  the  Holston  Circuit,  with  sixty  mem- 
bers of  Society,  at  the  head  waters  of  the  Holston  River; 
Henry  Willis  followed  him  there  the  present  year.  Redstone 
Circuit  now  appears,  as  the  first  organized  form  of  the  minis- 
terial work  of  the  denomination  beyond  the  Pennsylvania 
Alleghanies.  Braddock's  Road  over  the  mountains  had  opened 
that  ultramontane  region,  and  emigration  naturally  took  this 
prepared  route.  About  three  years  before  this  Conference 
Methodism  had  crossed  these  mountains;  but  John  Cooper 
and  Samuel  Breeze  were  now  appointed  to  the  first  circuit  in 
"Western  Pennsylvania ;  and,  before  the  year  closed,  Asbury. 
scaled  the  Alleghanies  for  the  first  time,  to  counsel  and  en- 
courage them.  Poythress,  Haw,  Roberts,  and  others,  who  had 
been  laboring  for  two  or  three  years  on  the  "  Alleghany  Cir- 
cuit," had  reached  the  Redstone  region,  and  opened  the  new 
field  for  their  itinerant  successors.  Many  Methodists  had  emi- 
grated, during  the  war,  to  the  mountains  of  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  and  Virginia ;  and  Local  Preachers  among  them 
were  the  real  founders  of  Methodism  in  these  Alpine  regions,  as 
they  were  in  so  many  other  parts  of  the  world. 

As  early  as  1768,  John  Jones,  of  Maryland,  built  his  cabin 
on  Redstone  Creek ;  Robert  Wooster,  a  Local  Preacher,  was 
the  first  Methodist  that  he  heard  in  those  then  remote  re- 
gions. About  1781  Wooster  seems  to  have  been  casually 
preaching  there.  Jones  went  ten  miles  to  Beesontown  or 
Uniontown,  to  hear  him,  was  awakened  under  his  first  sermon, 
invited  him  to  his  own  house,  and  was  there  converted  while 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  173 

the  humble  lay  evangelist  was  conducting  family  worship. 
Jones  gave  a  son  to  the  Western  itinerancy  in  the  early  part 
of  the  century,  and  became  a  pillar  in  the  Church  at  Union- 
town,  the  first  Methodist  Society  in  Western  Pennsylvania. 
We  shall  hereafter  see  that  as  early  as  1788  the  second  Confer- 
ence west  of  the  Alleghanies,  comprising  seven  members  and 
five  candidates,  was  held  by  Asbury  in  Uniontown. 

Among  the  mountaineer  Local  Preachers,  founders  of  the 
denomination  in  the  wilderness,  were  William  Shaw,  Thomas 
Lakin,  and  John  J.  Jacob ;  they  were  all  ordained  by  Asbury 
on  the  same  day,  and  were  familiarly  known  as  "  the  three 
bishops,"  a  title  won  by  "their  indefatigable  labors."  Lakin 
was  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  a  Methodist  from  the  year  1780. 
A  few  years  before  the  present  Conference  he  emigrated  be- 
yond the  Tuscarora  Mountains,  to  Bedford  County,  Pa.,  and 
there  became  one  of  the  frontier  founders  of  the  Church.  He 
had  superior  talents  as  a  preacher,  was  diligent  in  visiting 
the  sick  and  dying,  and  was  a  sort  of  chaplain  of  that  distant 
region  on  funeral  occasions  and  other  public  solemnities.  He 
often  mounted  his  horse  and  went  preaching  from  appointment 
to  appointment  over  a  six  weeks'  circuit,  and  attended  every 
Quarterly  Meeting  in  his  own  and  many  on  the  neighboring 
circuits.  In  fine,  this  good  man  was  a  pioneer  of  religion  on 
the  frontier,  doing  more  effective  work  than  most  regular 
preachers  of  later  times.  As  population  pressed  westward 
he  moved  with  it,  and  died  at  last,  in  Ohio,  aged  more  than 
seventy  years.     He  left  a  sanctified  name  in  the  Church. 

John  J.  Jacob  was  also  a  native  of  Maryland,  a  brave  and 
good  man,  at  the  age  of  twenty  a  lieutenant  in  the  Amer- 
ican army,  and  a  hero  in  the  battles  of  Brandy  wine,  German- 
town,  Monmouth,  and  Camden.  He  became  a  Methodist  at  Old 
Town,  Md.,  in  1783.  He  refers  to  his  conversion  as  attended 
by  remarkable  circumstances  and  "  an  indescribable  ecstasy." 
"  My  whole  frame,"  he  adds,  "  especially  my  heart,  seemed 
penetrated  and  wrapped  in  a  flame  of  fire  and  love ;  and  I 
think  I  felt  like  Peter,  James,  and  John  on  the  mount."  Of 
course  his  susceptible  spirit  rendered  him  one  of  the  most  zeal- 
ous of  the  "  three  bishops  "  of  the  mountains.     He  lived  and 


174  HISTOEY   OF    THE 

preached  in  the  rugged  regions  of  Hampshire  County,  Ya. 
He  was  "  abundant  in  labors."  "  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life 
he  gave  up  the  world,  and  yielded  his  soul  entirely  to  the  serv- 
ice of  his  Saviour.  It  may  be  said  that  his  life  was  full  of 
benevolence,  and  that  he  lived  only  to  glorify  God.  When  he 
was  nearing  the  heavenly  country  he  took  tender  leave  of  his 
wife  and  children,  saying,  '  I  shall  soon  meet  Bishops  Asbury 
and  George.  Now,  Lord,  receive  me  to  thyself.  I  have  fought 
a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course  ! '  "  He  expired  ex- 
claiming, "  All  is  well — safe  ! "  in  1839,  a  veteran  of  more 
than  eighty-two  years. 

Simon  Cochrane  was  also  a  frontier  pioneer  of  the  local  min- 
istry. He  was  born  in  Harness  Fort,  in  1755,  was  a  soldier  in 
Dunmore's  War,  and  also  through  the  Eevolutionary  struggle. 
After  eight  years  of  military  service,  he  joined  the  Methodists 
and  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  long  life  to  "  fighting  the  good 
fight  of  faith,"  a  mountaineer  champion  of  his  Church,  though 
always  in  its  "  local  ranks,"  He  began  to  preach  in  1781. 
Asbury  ordained  him,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  century 
he  emigrated  to  the  wilderness  of  Kentucky,  and  thence,  some 
years  later,  to  Ohio,  where,  after  sixty-four  years  of  diligent 
ministerial  labors,  accompanied  with  the  privations  and  perils 
of  the  frontier,  he  died  in  the  faith,  nearly  ninety  years  old. 

The  Juniata  Circuit,  Pennsylvania,  appears  for  the  first  time, 
this  year,  in  the  list  of  the  appointments.  It  lay  among  the 
Tuscarora  Mountains.  As  early  as  1775,  only  about  nine  years 
after  the  epoch  of  American  Methodism,  Michael  Cryder,  a  Local 
Preacher,  penetrated  to  near  the  present  town  of  Huntington, 
on  the  Juniata  River,  built  himself  a  mill,  and  labored  diligently 
at  his  humble  avocation,  and  as  diligently  to  found  Methodism 
among  the  scattered  settlers  of  his  wild  and  beautiful  neighbor- 
hood. "  From  this  Society  Methodism  was  propagated  through 
the  valleys  and  hills  of  this  part  of  Pennsylvania.  Circuits  and 
stations  have  been  growing  up  from  it  for  the  last  seventy-five 
or  eighty  years."  To  the  north-east  of  this  mission  field  of  Cryder 
lies  Penn's  Yalley,  "  one  of  the  most  famous  in  the  state." 
Robert  Pennington,  one  of  the  earliest  Methodists  of  Delaware, 
emigrated  to  this  romantic  region  and  settled  in  Center  County, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  175 

where  lie  founded  Methodism.  He  is  honored  among  its  people 
as  "the  first  Methodist  of  this  valley."  He  built  a  log  chapel 
among  the  mountains,  which  is  still  familiarly  known  as  "  Father 
Pennington's  Church."  From  this  obscure  source  refreshing 
streams  have  gone  forth  through  the  whole  valley;  all  the 
Methodism  of  that  region  dates  from  the  labors  of  Robert 
Pennington. 

It  may  be  affirmed  that  not  only  was  Methodism  founded  in 
the  New  World  by  Local  Preachers — by  Embury  in  New  York, 
Webb  in  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  Strawbridge  in  Mary- 
land, Neal  in  Canada,  Gilbert  in  the  West  Indies,  and  Black  in 
Nova  Scotia — but  that  nearly  its  whole  frontier  march,  from  the 
extreme  north  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  has  been  led  on  by  these 
humble  laborers ;  that  in  few  things  was  the  legislative  wisdom 
of  Wesley  more  signalized  than  in  providing  in  his  ecclesiasti- 
cal system  the  offices  of  local  preacher  and  class-leader,  a  species 
of  lay  pastorate  which,  alike  in  the  dense  communities  of  En- 
gland and  the  dispersed  populations  of  America,  has  performed 
services  which  can  hardly  be  overrated.  The  history  of  the  de- 
nomination affords  a  lesson  in  this  respect  that  should  never  be 
forgotten  by  Methodists  while  Christendom  has  a  frontier  any- 
where on  our  planet.  They  have  been  accustomed  to  consider 
their  "itinerancy"  the  pre-eminent  fact  of  their  history;  they 
have  demanded  that  all  things  should  bend  in  subordination  to 
this,  and  they  have  never  exaggerated  its  importance ;  but  they 
have  failed  to  appreciate  both  the  historical  and  prospective 
value  of  these  humbler  functions  of  their  system.  Most,  if  not 
all  the  early  itinerants  did  inestimable  service  for  the  denomina- 
tion as  local  preachers  before  they  entered  the  itinerancy;  most 
of  them  again  became  local  preachers  and  labored  on  faithfully 
for  the  common  cause.  Their  intervals  of  "  regular  "  service  have 
secured  them  historical  recognition  ;  but  hundreds  of  their  "  ir- 
regular" and  hardly  less  useful  colaborers  have  been  forgotten. 

Of  the  fifteen  preachers  received  on  trial  at  the  Conference 
of  1784,  a  third  retired  from  the  itinerancy  in  less  than  three 
years ;  nearly  another  third  in  about  five  years ;  some  of  the  re- 
mainder became  men  of  renown  by  their  faithful  and  successful 
services. 


176  HISTORY   OF  THE 

"We  have  thus  gleaned  and  adjusted,  into  what  orderly  arrange- 
ment has  been  possible,  the  scattered  fragments  of  the  history 
of  these  obscure  times.  Again  We  are  brought  to  the  epoch  of 
Asbury's  interview  with  Coke  at  Barrett's  Chapel,  the  epoch  of 
events  which  were  to  give  a  new  and  formal  development  to 
American  Methodism.  Hitherto  its  progress  has  been  but  pre- 
liminary ;  hereafter  it  takes  a  more  historic  shape.  From  gath- 
ering the  broken  materials  of  its  annals,  dispersed  over  an  in- 
definite field,  we  come  now  to  witness  the  spectacle  of  the  lay- 
ing of  the  broad  and  permanent  foundations  of  its  ecclesiastic 
and  historic  structure.  We  shall  see  its  walls  rise  in  massive 
strength,  and,  entering  its  gates,  shall  find  ourselves  walking 
symmetrical  streets,  not  only  in  a  suburb,  but  in  a  citadel  of  the 
"  city  of  God."  If  not  perfect,  if  here  and  there  marred  by 
marks  of  both  internal  and  external  combat,  yet  shall  we  find 
it  not  altogether  unworthy  of  the  vision  of  the  Civitas  Dei 
which  illuminated  the  studious  vigils  of  Augustine,  and  con- 
tinues to  illuminate  the  hopes  of  Christendom. 


En.g  *  by-  B-a.BitdTt»- 


HflDBIAS  (D 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.*  177 


CHAPTEE  XIII. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

In  the  year  1776,  while  pursuing  his  daily  travels  and  minis- 
trations in  Somersetshire,  England,  John  Wesley  was  saluted 
by  a  clergyman  who  had  come  twenty  miles  to  meet  him.  "  I 
had  much  conversation  with  him,"  says  "Wesley,  "  and  a  union 
was  begun  then  which,  I  trust,  shall  never  end."  The  stranger 
was  Thomas  Coke,  LL.D.,  a  man  who  was  destined  to  become 
a  chief  character  in  the  history#of  Methodism  in  both  hemi- 
spheres. 

The  only  child  of  a  wealthy  house,  Coke  began  early  his 
education  for  one  of  the  learned  professions.  In  his  seven- 
teenth year  he  entered  Jesus  College,  Oxford,  as  a  Gentleman 
Commoner.  He  there  chose  the  Church  as  the  future  sphere 
of  his  life  ;  but  he  did  not  escape  the  infection  of  the  specula- 
tive infidelity  then  prevalent  in  the  English  universities.  Sher- 
lock and  other  writers  rescued  him  from  doubt,  but  failed  to 
teach  him  genuine  personal  religion.  He  entered  upon  his 
office  as  incumbent  of  South  Petherton  Parish,  Somersetshire, 
an  unregenerate  man,  but  a  conscientious  inquirer.  An  inter- 
view with  Thomas  Maxfield,  Wesley's  first  lay  itinerant, 
afforded  him  better  views  of  evangelical  Christianity.  Visit- 
ing a  family  in  Devonshire,  he  found  among  its  laborers  an 
untutored  but  intelligent  Methodist,  a  Class  Leader  of  the  rus- 
tics of  the  neighborhood.  He  sought  this  good  man's  conver- 
sation, and  was  surprised  at  his  knowledge  of  divine  truth. 
The  nature  of  faith,  justification,  regeneration,  and  the  evi- 
dences which  attend  them — the  "  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ " 
— were  themes  upon  which  the  clergyman  found  he  could  be 
instructed  by  the  unlettered  peasant.  They  not  only  conversed 
but  prayed  together.  The  educated  divine  obtained  from  the 
lay  Methodist  his  best  knowledge  on  the  profoundest  subjects, 

12 


178  *  HISTORY   OF  THE 

and  acknowledged  that  lie  owed  to  him  greater  obligations, 
"  with  respect  to  the  means  of  finding  peace  with  God  and 
tranquillity  of  mind,  than  to  any  other  person." 

His  increased  earnestness  now  surprised  his  parishioners; 
his  church  was  crowded;  its  vestry  declined  to  erect  in  it  a 
gallery  for  the  accommodation  of  the  throng,  but  he  had  it  put 
up  at  his  own  expense ;  he  preached  no  longer  with  notes ;  he 
held  numerous  evening  meetings  in  distant  parts  of  his  parish, 
introduced  the  singing  of  hymns,  and  testified  to  his  people  his 
personal  experience  of  "  the  forgiveness  of  sins,"  attained  while 
preaching  at  one  of  his  neighboring  appointments,  where  his 
"  heart,"  he  says,  "  was  filled  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory."  A  clamor  was  raised  against  him  as  "  a  Methodist," 
though  he  had  yet  no  relations  whatever  with  "Wesley,  or  any 
of  his  Societies.  His  bishop  admonished  him ;  his  rector  dis- 
missed him ;  mobs  of  his  own  parishioners  menaced  him ;  he 
was  "chimed"  out  of  his  church;  but  on  the  two  ensuing 
Sundays  he  took  his  stand  in  the  street,  near  the  church  door, 
and  preached  with  power.  Stones  had  been  collected  in  heaps 
for  an  assault  upon  him,  but  he  was  protected  by  some  of  his 
pious  people.  He  was  compelled  to  abandon  his  parish.  On 
the  day  he  departed  the  bells  were  merrily  rung,  and  the  mob 
was  treated  with  hogsheads  of  cider.  Petherton  celebrated  as 
a  jubilee  its  deliverance  from  a  Methodist  curate ;  but  it  gave 
to  the  world  a  man  who  was  to  rank  second  only  to  "Wesley  in 
the  history  of  Methodism,  and  to  be  the  first  Protestant  bishop 
of  the  New  "World.  In  later  years  the  Petherton  bells  were 
to  ring  again  for  him  as  he  flew  over  the  country,  one  of  its 
greatest  evangelists ;  ring  for  him  a  hearty  welcome  to  his  old 
pulpit. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  Coke's  appearance  in  the  Meth- 
odist movement,  at  this  time,  was  one  of  those  noteworthy 
providences  which  mark  its  early  history.  "Wesley,  advanced 
in  years,  had  hoped  that  Fletcher  might  be  his  successor  in  his 
great  work ;  but  the  saintly  vicar  of  Madeley  was  fast  declin- 
ing in  health,  and  was  to  precede  him  to  the  grave.  Coke, 
thrust  out  of  Petherton,  found  refuge  in  the  Wesley  an  Con- 
ference  at  the   opportune   moment.     Wesley  needed  now  a 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL   CHUEOH.  179 

practical,  an  energetic,  an  administrative  coadjutor.  He  had 
himself  legislated  and  matured  the  disciplinary  system  of 
Methodism,  Whitefield  had  stirred  the  conscience  of  England 
and  America  for  it,  Fletcher  had  settled  its  theology,  Charles 
"Wesley  had  provided  for  it  a  psalmody  which  was  to  become 
its  virtual  liturgy  throughout  the  world.  The  field  of  Wes- 
ley's operations  and  responsibilities  had  enlarged  beyond  his 
expectations  and  his  powers ;  Methodism  had  already  extended 
to  foreign  lands,  and  the  time  had  come  for  grand  foreign 
plans ;  the  American  Revolution  was  preparing  the  way  for  an 
American  organization  of  the  denomination.  Coke  now  ap- 
peared by  the  side  of  the  great  but  aged  founder  as  the  provi- 
dentially commissioned  man  for  the  times.  In  travel  and 
preaching  he  became  as  indefatigable  as  Wesley  or  Whitefield. 
He  was  to  traverse  continually  the  United  Kingdom,  the 
United  States,  and  the  West  Indies.  He  was  to  have  virtual 
charge,  for  years,  of  the  Irish  Conference,  presiding  at  its  ses- 
sions oftener  than  Wesley  himself.  He  was  to  win  the  title  of 
the  u  Foreign  Minister  of  Methodism."  He  was  to  cross  the 
Atlantic  eighteen  times,  defraying  himself  his  expenses;  to 
organize,  under  Wesley,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  as 
its  first  bishop ;  to  originate  the  constitutional  organization  of 
English  Methodism  by  Wesley's  Deed  of  Declaration ;  to  found 
the  Wesleyan  Missions  in  the  West  Indies,  in  Africa,  in  Asia, 
in  England,  Wales,  and  Ireland ;  to  represent,  in  his  own  per- 
son, down  to  his  death,  the  whole  missionary  operations  of 
Methodism,  as  their  official  and  almost  their  sole  director; 
lavishing  upon  them  his  affluent  fortune,  and  giving  more 
money  to  religion  than  any  other  Methodist,  if  not  any  other 
Protestant  of  his  times.  Dying  at  last,  a  veteran  of  nearly 
seventy  years,  a  missionary  himself,  on  his  way  to  the  East,  he 
was  to  be  buried  beneath  the  waves  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  "  the 
greatest  man  of  the  last  century,"  says  Asbury,  "  in  labors  and 
services  as*a  minister  of  Christ."  Like  most,  if  not  all,  great 
men,  he  had  peculiar  faults,  as  we  shall  have  occasion  to  see ; 
but  they  hardly  mar  the  noble  proportions  of  his  character. 

Such  was  the  man  that  Wesley  was  now  to  send  to  America 
to  introduce  a  new  era  in  its  struggling  Methodism.     He  was 


180  HISTORY  OF   THE 

to  go  as  a  "  Superintendent "  or  Bishop,  and  to  be  accompanied 
by  two  Assistants,  as  Elders,  that  he  might  thus  conform,  in  his 
ordinations,  to  the  usage  of  the  English  Church,  which  required 
in  that  solemnity  the  co-operation  of  at  least  two  presbyters 
with  the  bishop.  These  assistants  were  Thomas  Yasey  and 
Richard  Whatcoat.  The  former  had  traveled  about  nine  years 
when  Wesley  ordained  him  as  one  of  Coke's  presbyters.  He 
labored  in  America  about  two  years,  when  he  returned  to 
England. 

Richard  Whatcoat  was  one  of  the  saintliest  men  in  the 
primitive  itinerancy  of  Methodism.  Had  he  been  a  Papist,  he 
might  have  been  canonized.  His  biographer  adds  that  it 
might  be  said  of  him,  as  of  St.  Basil,  "  that  so  much  divine 
majesty  and  luster  appeared  in  him  it  made  the  wicked  tremble 
to  behold  him.  In  him  were  seen  majesty  and  love.  His  whole 
deportment  was  beautiful,  and  adorned  with  personal  graces." 

During  eight  or  nine  years  he  labored  humbly  but  effectively 
as  a  Band  and  Class  Leader  in  Wednesbury,  Staffordshire, 
where  Methodism  was  "  tried  as  by  fire  "  in  terrible  persecu- 
tions. In  1767  he  began  to  hold  public  meetings,  as  an  Ex- 
horter,  in  rural  neighborhoods.  In  1769  the  devoted  John 
Pawson,  who  knew  how  to  estimate  his  character,  proposed 
him  as  an  itinerant  at  the  memorable  Leeds  Conference  which 
sent  the  first  Methodist  missionaries,  Boardman  and  Pilmoor, 
to  America.  The  Conference  might  well  have  received  their 
obscure  young  probationer  with  peculiar  interest,  could  they 
have  anticipated  that  he  was  providentially  destined  to  follow 
their  missionaries,  and  become  one  of  the  early  bishops  of  the 
wide-spread  Church  they  had  thus  been  humbly  founding  in 
the  distant  West.  After  traveling  two  years  in  England  he 
was  sent  to  Ireland.  In  1773  he  was  sent  to  travel  among  the 
mountains  of  Wales,  where  he  continued  two  years.  The  re- 
mainder of  his  services,  down  to  the  time  of  his  departure  to 
America,  were  on  various  circuits  in  England.  Shadford,  who 
well  knew  the  wants  of  the  American  Church,  urged  him  to  go 
with  Coke ;  he  hesitated,  and  observed  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer  for  divine  guidance.  At  last  "  my  mind,"  he  says, 
"was  drawn  to  meditate  on  the  subject;  the  power  of  God 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  181 

came  upon  me,  and  my  heart  was  remarkably  melted  with 
love  to  God  and  man."  He  offered  himself  to  be  sacrificed, 
if  need  be,  for  his  distant  brethren. 

These  were  the  men  whom  Wesley  selected  to  share  with 
him  the  grave  responsibility  he  was  now  about  to  assume,  of 
organizing  the  "  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America."  We  have  seen  the  necessity  of  this  mo- 
mentous measure.  Methodism  had  extended  greatly  in  the 
ISTew  World.  It  was  the  only  form  of  religion  that  had  thrived 
there  during  the  Revolution.  It  now  comprised  more  than 
eighty  traveling  preachers,  besides  many  local  preachers,  hun- 
dreds of  class  leaders  and  exhorters,  thousands  of  members,  and 
tens  of  thousands  of  regular  hearers.  It  possessed  chapels  in 
most  of  the  principal  communities  of  the  Middle  States,  and 
in  many  of  the  rural  towns.  It  was  rapidly  extending  its  net- 
work of  ministerial  plans  over  the  land.  Its  members  could 
not  be  called  "  communicants,"  for  they  had  not  the  sacra- 
ments. It  received  its  converts  into  its  Churches  without  bap- 
tism, in  many  places,  and  the  children  of  its  families  were 
growing  up  without  that  holy  rite,  except  where  the  brief 
measures  of  the  Fluvanna  Conference  had  provided  it.  It  was 
a  Church  without  a  sacramental  altar,  though  as  pure  and 
valid  as  any  then  on  the  American  continent.  Its  early  but 
precarious  dependence  upon  the  English  clergy  for  the  sacra- 
ments had  almost  entirely  failed  since  the  outbreak  of  the 
Eevolution.  The  colonial  English  Church  had  been  generally 
disabled,  if  not  extinguished  ;  its  clergy  fleeing  the  country,  or 
entering  political  or  military  life.  It  was  in  these  circum- 
stances that  a  majority,  as  has  been  shown,  of  the  American 
itinerants,  representing  a  majority  of  their  circuits  and  people, 
attempted  to  provide  the  sacraments  by  the  measures  of  the 
Eluvanna  Conference  of  1779,  after  years  of  compromise  and 
delay.  The  temporary  rupture  of  that  year  was  healed  by  a 
further  compromise  and  delay  in  1780,  till  the  counsel  of  Wes- 
ley could  be  obtained.  The  letters  which  Wesley  received 
convinced  him  that  something  must  be  done,  however  extra- 
ordinary, for  the  relief  of  the  distant  and  suffering  Societies. ' 
He  endeavored,  nevertheless,  to  avert  the  necessity  of  "irregu- 


182  HISTORY   OF    THE 

lar"  measures.  Four  years  before  the  ordination  of  Coke, 
Whatcoat,  and  Yasey,  he  addressed  two  letters  to  Lowth, 
Bishop  of  London,  entreating  the  ordination  of  at  least  one 
Presbyter  to  administer  the  sacraments  among  the  American 
Methodists.  "  I  mourn,"  he  wrote,  "  for  poor  America  ;  for 
the  sheep  scattered  up  and  down  therein ;  a  part  of  them  have 
no  shepherds  at  all,  and  the  care  of  the  rest  is  little  better, 
for  their  shepherds  pity  them  not."  Lowth  declined  his 
request. 

In  the  year  1784  th'e  Leeds  Conference  was  again  to  be  ren- 
dered memorable  by  its  interest  for  America.  Fletcher  was 
there,  and  with  his  counsels  the  American  question  was  brought 
to  an  issue.  Wesley  had  already  discussed  it  with  Coke,  re- 
presenting to  him  the  actual  circumstances  of  the  transatlantic 
Societies,  their  new  relation  and  that  of  their  country  to  the 
British  Church  and  State ;  and  the  providential  necessity  that 
seemed  to  devolve  upon  him,  as  leader  of  the  Methodistic 
movement,  to  venture  on  the  extraordinary  measure  of  ordain- 
ing men  to  supply  them  with  the  sacraments.  He  cited  the 
example  of  the  ancient  Alexandrian  Church,  which  through 
two  hundred  years  provided  its  bishops  through  ordination  by 
its  presbyters.  Coke  was  already  an  ordained  presbyter  of  the 
Church  of  England ;  Wesley  now  proposed  to  ordain  him  a 
bishop  under  the  unpretentious,  but  synonymous  title  of  "  Su- 
perintendent," and  to  send  him  to  the  relief  of  the  American 
Methodists.  Coke  required  time  to  consider  a  proposal  so 
momentous;  after  about  two  months  he  wrote  to  Wesley, 
acceding  to  it,  though  still  suggesting  delay,  or,  if  possible, 
some  modification  of  the  plan.  Wesley  summoned  him,  with 
Rev.  James  Creighton,  a  presbyter  of  the  Establishment,  to 
meet  him  and  Whatcoat  and  Yasey  at  Bristol,  and  there,  on 
the  first  day  of  September,  1784,  assisted  (according  to  the 
custom  of  the  English  Church)  by  the  two  presbyters,  Creigh- 
ton and  Coke,  Wesley  ordained  Yasey  and  Whatcoat  deacons, 
and  on  the  next  day  ordained  them  elders  or  presbyters.  On 
the  latter  day  he  also  ordained  Thomas  Coke  superintendent 
or  bishop  of  the  Methodist  Societies  in  America.  By  this 
solemn  measure  American  Methodism  was  to  take  precedence 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  183 

of  the  Colonial  Episcopal  Church  in  the  dates  of  their  reorgan- 
ization after  the  Ee volution.  The  Methodist  bishops  were 
the  first  Protestant  bishops,  and  Methodism  was  the  first 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  New  World;  and  as 
Wesley  had  given  it  the  Anglican  Articles  of  Keligion, 
(omitting  the  seventeenth,  on  predestination,)  and  the  Liturgy, 
wisely  abridged,  it  became,  both  by  its  precedent  organization 
and  its  subsequent  numerical  importance,  the  real  successor  to 
the  Anglican  Church  in  America. 

On  the  3d  of  November  they  landed  at  New  York,  and 
were  conducted  to  the  house  of  Stephen  Sands,  an  influential 
member  and  trustee  of  the  John-street  Church,  who  enter- 
tained them  with  liberal  hospitality.  John  Dickins,  the 
Methodist  preacher  of  the  city,  was  soon  introduced  to  them, 
and  welcomed  them  heartily.  Coke  stated  to  him  the  scheme 
which  he  brought  from  Wesley.  Dickins,  being  one  of  the 
Eluvanna  brethren,  emphatically  approved  it,  and  requested 
that  it  might  at  once  be  announced  to  the  public,  assured 
that  it  would  be  received  with  joy.  Coke  deemed  it  expedient 
to  disclose  it  no  further  till  he  could  consult  Asbury.  By  the 
latter  part  of  the  week  they  were  traveling  southward,  and  on 
Saturday  were  received  by  Bassett  at  Dover,  where  the  latter 
was  now  erecting  a  Methodist  chapel.  Coke  met  Garrettson 
at  Bassett's  house  and  admired  him  as  "  an  excellent  young 
man,  all  meekness,  love,  and  activity."  On  Sunday,  14th  of 
November,  he  arrived  with  Whatcoat  at  Barrett's  Chapel,  "  so 
called,"  he  says,  "  from  the  name  of  our  friend  who  built  it, 
and  who  went  to  heaven  a  few  days  ago."  "  In  this  chapel," 
he  adds,  "  in  the  midst  of  a  forest,  I  had  a  noble  congregation, 
to  whom  I  endeavored  to  set  forth  the  Redeemer  as  our  wis- 
dom, righteousness,  sanctification,  and  redemption.  After  the 
sermon,  a  plain,  robust  man  came  up  to  me  in  the  pulpit  and 
kissed  me.  I  thought  it  could  be  no  other  than  Mr.  Asbury, 
and  I  was  not  deceived.  I  administered  the  sacrament,  after 
preaching,  to  five  or  six  hundred  communicants,  and  held  a 
love-feast.  It  was  the  best  season  I  ever  knew,  except  one  at 
Charlemont  in  Ireland.  After  dinner  Mr.  Asbury  and  I  had 
a  private  conversation  on  the  future  management  of  our  affairs 


184  HISTORY    OF   THE 

in  America.  We  sent  off  Freeborn  Garrettson,  like  an  arrow, 
from  north  to  south,  directing  him  to  send  messengers  to  the 
right  and  left,  and  to  gather  all  the  preachers  together  at 
Baltimore  on  Christmas  eve. 

Asbury  knew  not  that  Coke  was  present  till  he  arrived  at 
the  chapel.  The  occasion  was  a  regular  Quarterly  Meeting 
of  the  Circuit,  and  fifteen  of  the  preachers  and  a  host  of  the 
laity  were  there.  A  spectator  of  the  scene  (Ezekiel  Cooper) 
says :  "  While  Coke  was  preaching,  Asbury  came  into  the 
congregation.  A  solemn  pause  and  deep  silence  took  place 
at  the  close  of  the  sermon,  as  an  interval  for  introduction  and 
salutation.  Asbury  and  Coke,  with  hearts  full  of  brotherly 
love,  approached,  embraced,  and  saluted  each  other.  The 
other  preachers,  at  the  same  time,  were  melted  into  sympathy 
and  tears.  The  congregation  also  caught  the  glowing  emo- 
tion, and  the  whole  assembly,  as  if  struck  with  a  shock  of 
heavenly  electricity,  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears.  Every  heart 
appeared  overflowing  with  love  and  fellowship,  and  an  ecstasy 
of  joy  and  gladness  ensued.  I  can  never  forget  the  affecting 
scene." 

Thus  we  reach  again  the  memorable  interview  at  Barrett's 
Chapel;  and  here,  in  the  forest  solitude,  the  momentous 
scheme  of  Coke's  mission  was  fully  disclosed,  the  first  General 
Conference  of  American  Methodism  appointed,  Garrettson 
"  sent  off  like  an  arrow  "  to  summon  it  together,  and  the  proj- 
ect of  Dickins,  for  a  Methodist  college,  revived.  It  was  with 
prayerful  counsels,  sacramental  solemnities,  liberal  devisings,' 
and  with  singing  and  shouting,  that  the  young  denomination 
prepared,  in  this  woodland  retreat,  to  enter  upon  its  new  and 
world-wide  destinies. 

At  Abingdon,  Md.,  they  were  joined  by  William  Black,  an 
English  preacher,  who  had  been  founding  Methodism  in  Nova 
Scotia,  and  had  wended  his  way  through  Boston,  New  York, 
and  Philadelphia,  seeking  ministerial  reinforcements  for  that 
distant  province.  On  the  17th  of  December  all  the  travelers, 
except  Whatcoat,  arrived  under  the  roof  of  Gough  at  Perry 
Hall,  "  the  most  elegant  house,"  says  Coke,  "  in  this  state." 
"Here,"  he  adds,  "I  have  a  noble  room  to  myself,  where 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  185 

Mr.  Asbury  and  I  may,  in  the  course  of  a  week,  mature  every- 
thing for  the  Conference."  Black  alludes  to  Perry  Hall  as 
"the  most  spacious  and  elegant  building"  he  had  seen  in 
America.  Whatcoat,  who  had  delayed  in  order  to  preach  on 
the  route,  arrived  on  the  19th.  The  next  day  they  began  the 
revision  of  "the  Eules  and  Minutes,"  and  made  other  pro- 
visions for  the  approaching  session.  Four  days  were  spent  in 
this  task,  relieved  by  frequent  religious  exercises  in  Gough's 
numerous  family,  and  by  the  social  hospitalities  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. 

On  Friday,  the  24th  of  December,  1784,  the  apostolic  little 
company  rode  from  Perry  Hall  to  Baltimore,  and  at  ten  o'clock 
A.  M.  began  the  first  "  General  Conference,"  in  the  Lovely 
Lane  Chapel.  The  latter  was  still  a  rude  structure,  and  Coke 
commended  gratefully  the  kindness  of  the  people  in  furnishing 
a  large  stove,  and  backs  to  some  of  the  seats,  for  the  comfort 
of  the  Conference.  Garrettson  had  sped  his  way  over  twelve 
hundred  miles  in  six  weeks,  calling  to  Baltimore  the  itinerants, 
and  preaching  as  he  went,  and  had  returned  to  find  sixty 
present.  Coke,  on  taking  the  chair,  presented  a  letter  from 
"Wesley,  dated  Bristol,  September  10th,  1784,  and  addressed 
"  To  Dr.  Coke,  Mr.  Asbury,  and  our  Brethren  in  North  Amer- 
ica." It  said  that  "  by  a  very  uncommon  train  of  providences, 
many  of  the  provinces  of  North  America  are  totally  disjoined 
from  the  British  empire,  and  erected  into  independent  states. 
The  English  government  has  no  authority  over  them,  either  civil 
or  ecclesiastical,  any  more  than  over  the  states  of  Holland.  A 
civil  authority  is  exercised  over  them,  partly  by  the  Congress, 
partly  by  the  state  Assemblies.  But  no  one  either  exercises  or 
claims  any  ecclesiastical  authority  at  all.  In  this  peculiar  situa- 
tion some  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  of  these  states  desire  my 
advice,  and  in  compliance  with  their  desire  I  have  drawn  up  a 
little  sketch.  Lord  King's  Account  of  the  Primitive  Church 
convinced  me,  many  years  ago,  that  bishops  and  presbyters  are 
the  same  order,  and  consequently  have  the  same  right  to 
ordain.  For  many  years  I  have  been  importuned  from  time 
to  time  to  exercise  this  right,  by  ordaining  part  of  our  travel- 
ing preachers.     But  I  have  still  refused,  not  only  for  peace5 


186  niSTORY   OF   THE 

sake,  but  because  I  was  determined,  as  little  as  possible,  to 
violate  the  established  order  of  the  national  Church,  to  which 
I  belonged.  But  the  case  is  widely  different  between  England 
and  North  America.  Here  there  are  bishops  who  have  a  legal 
jurisdiction.  In  America  there  are  none,  and  but  few  parish 
ministers ;  so  that  for  some  hundred  miles  together  there  is 
none  either  to  baptize  or  to  administer  the  Lord's  supper. 
Here,  therefore,  my  scruples  are  at  an  end ;  and  I  conceive 
myself  at  full  liberty,  as  I  violate  no  order  and  invade  no 
man's  right,  by  appointing  and  sending  laborers  into  the  har- 
vest. I  have  accordingly  appointed  Dr.  Coke  and  Mr.  Francis 
Asbury  to  be  joint  superintendents  over  our  brethren  in  North 
America.  As  also  Richard  Whatcoat  and  Thomas  Yasey  to  act 
as  .elders  among  them,  by  baptizing  and  ministering  the  Lord's 
supper.  If  any  one  will  point  out  a  more  rational  and  Scrip- 
tural way  of  feeding  and  guiding  those  poor  sheep  in  the  wil- 
derness I  will  gladly  embrace  it.  At  present  I  cannot  see  any 
better  method  than  that  I  have  taken.  It  has  indeed  been  pro- 
posed to  desire  the  English  bishops  to  ordain  part  of  our  preach- 
ers for  America.  But  to  this  I  object,  1.  I  desired  the  Bishop 
of  London  to  ordain  one  only,  but  could  not  prevail ;  2.  If  they 
consented,  we  know  the  slowness  of  their  proceedings;  but 
the  matter  admits  of  no  delay;  3.  If  they  would  ordain  them 
now  they  would  likewise  expect  to  govern  them.  And  how 
grievously  would  this  entangle  us !  4.  As  our  American 
brethren  are  now  totally  disentangled,  both  from  the  state  and 
from  the  English  hierarchy,  we  dare  not  entangle  them  again, 
either  with  the  one  or  the  other.  They  are  now  at  fall  liberty 
simply  to  follow  the  Scriptures  and  the  primitive  Church. 
And  we  judge  it  best  that  they  should  stand  fast  in  that  liberty 
wherewith  God  has  so  strangely  made  them  free." 

In  accordance  with  this  document  "  it  was  agreed,"  says 
Asbury,  "  to  form  ourselves  into  an  Episcopal  Church,  and  to 
have  superintendents,  elders,  and  deacons."  Asbury  declined 
ordination  to  the  superintendency,  unless,  in  addition  to  the 
appointment  of  Wesley,  his  brethren  should  formally  elect  him 
to  that  office.  Coke  and  he  were  unanimously  elected  super- 
intendents.    Whatcoat's  notes  of  the  occasion,  though  brief, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  187 

are  more  specific  than  any  other  contemporary  document  re- 
lating to  it.  He  says :  "  On  the  24th  we  rode  to  Baltimore ; 
at  ten  o'clock  we  began  our  Conference,  in  which  we  agreed 
to  form  a  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  which  the  Liturgy 
(as  presented  by  the  Kev.  John  Wesley)  should  he  read,  and 
the  sacraments  be  administered  by  a  superintendent,  elders, 
and  deacons,  who  shall  be  ordained  by  a  presbytery,  using  the 
Episcopal  form,  as  prescribed  in  the  Eev.  Mr.  Wesley's  prayer 
book.  Persons  to  be  ordained  are  to  be  nominated  by  the 
superintendent,  elected  by  the  Conference,  and  ordained  by 
imposition  of  the  hands  of  the  superintendent  and  elders ;  the 
superintendent  has  a  negative  voice,"  *  He  further  states  that 
on  the  second  day  of  the  session  Asbury  was  ordained  deacon 
by  Coke,  assisted  by  his  presbyters,  Yasey  and  Whatcoat ;  on 
Sunday,  the  third  day,  they  ordained  him  elder  ;  on  Monday 
he  was  consecrated  superintendent,  his  friend,  Otterbein,  of 
the  German  Church,  assisting  Coke  and  his  elders  in  the  rite. 
Tuesday,  Wednesday,  and  Thursday  were  spent  in  enacting 
rules  of  Discipline,  and  the  election  of  preachers  to  orders. 
On  Friday  several  deacons  were  ordained  ;  on  Saturday,  Jan- 
uary 1st,  1785,  the  project  of  Abingdon  College  was  consid- 
ered ;  on  Sunday,  the  2d,  twelve  elders  (previously  ordained 
deacons)  and  one  deacon  were  ordained;  "and  we  ended," 
adds  Whatcoat,  "our  Conference  in  great  peace  and  una- 
nimity." 

The  session  was  a  jubilee  to  the  Methodists  of  Baltimore 
and  its  vicinity.  Coke  preached  every  day  at  noon,  two  of 
.his  discourses  being  especially  on  the  ministerial  office,  and 
afterward  published  ;  there  was  preaching,  by  other  members 
of  the  body,  every  morning  and  evening ;  Otterbein's  Church, 
and  the  Methodist  chapels  in  the  town  and  at  the  Point,  were 
occupied  by  them.  Coke  says:  "Our  Conference  continued 
ten  days.  I  admire  the  American  preachers.  They  are  in- 
deed a  body  of  devoted,  disinterested  men,  but  most  of  them 
young." 

Coke's  sermon  at  the  Episcopal  consecration  of  Asbury  pro- 
duced a  vivid  impression,  and  presents  some  eloquent  passages. 

*  Memoirs,  p.  21.    The  italics  are  his  own. 


188  HISTORY  OF   THE 

"Keep  that  which  is  committed  to  thy  trust,"  he  said  to  him  ; 
"  be  not  ashamed  of  the  testimony  of  our  Lord,  but  a  par- 
taker of  the  afflictions  of  the  Gospel  according  to  the  power  of 
God :  endure  hardships  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ :  do 
the  work  of  an  evangelist,  and  make  full  proof  of  thy  minis- 
try, and  thy  God  will  open  to  thee  a  wide  door,  which  all  thy 
enemies  shall  not  be  able  to  shut.  He  will  carry  his  Gospel 
by  thee  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  one  end  of  the  continent  to 
anotlier?  Watters  says  that  Wesley's  plan  was  adopted  "  in 
a  regular  formal  manner,  with  not  one  dissenting  voice." 
Black,  from  Nova  Scotia,  gazed  upon  the  scene  with  admira- 
tion. "  Perhaps,"  he  says,  "  such  a  number  of  holy,  zealous, 
godly  men  never  before  met  together  in  Maryland,  perhaps 
not  on  the  continent  of  America." 

In  compliance  with  the  call  from  Nova  Scotia,  Garrettson 
and  James  O.  Cromwell  were  ordained  elders  for  that  province. 
Jeremiah  Lambert  was  ordained  to  the  same  office  for  Anti- 
gua, in  the  West  Indies.  For  the  United  States  the  elders 
were  John  Tunnell,  William  Gill,  Le  Koy  Cole,  Nelson  Reed, 
John  Haggerty,  Reuben  Ellis,  Richard  Ivey,  Henry  Willis, 
James  O'Kelly,  and  Beverly  Allen.  Tunnell,  Willis,  and 
Allen  were  not  present,  but  received  ordination  after  the  ses- 
sion. John  Dickins,  Ignatius  Pigman,  and  Caleb  Boyer  were 
chosen  deacons.  Boyer  and  Pigman  were  ordained  in  June 
following  at  the  Conference  in  Baltimore. 

Though  no  "Journal"  of  the  doings,  in  the  usual  form, 
was  published  or  preserved  in  manuscript,  its  enactments  were 
embodied  in  a  volume  "  composing  a  form  of  Discipline  for 
the  ministers,  preachers,  and  other  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  America,"  published  in  Philadelphia  in 
1785,  and  bound  up  with  the  "  Sunday  Service,"  and  "  Col- 
lection of  Psalms  and  Hymns,"  which  Wesley  had  prepared 
for  the  American  Societies,  and  had  sent  over  in  sheets.  In 
1786  a  new  edition  of  the  whole,  in  one  book,  was  printed  in 
London,  under  Wesley's  eye.  Hitherto,  what  are  called  the 
"  Large  Minutes "  of  Wesley  had  been  recognized  as  the  au- 
thoritative Discipline  of  the  American  Societies,  with  the 
special  enactments  of  the  American  Conferences  superadded. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  189 

The  Large  Minutes  were  a  compilation,  made  by  "Wesley  from 
the  Annual  Minutes  of  the  British  Conference.  In  the  pre- 
liminary deliberations  at  Perry  Hall  they  were  revised  and 
adapted  to  the  new  form  of  the  American  Church,  and  being 
adopted  by  the  Christmas  Conference,  were  incorporated  with 
the  "  Sunday  Service  "  and  Hymns,  and  published  in  1T85  as 
the  Discipline  of  American  Methodism. 

The  Articles  of  Eeligion  prepared  by  Wesley,  and  adopted 
by  this    Conference,  are   an    abridgment  of  the   Thirty-nine 
Articles  of  the  English  Church.     The  institution  of  slavery 
was    again    considered,    and    stringent    and    comprehensive 
measures  were  adopted  for  its  "  extirpation."     The   Confer- 
ence declared  that  "  We  view  it  as  contrary  to  the  golden  law 
of  God,  on  which  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets,  and  the 
inalienable  rights  of  mankind,  as  well  as  every  principle  of 
the  Revolution,  to  hold  in  the  deepest  debasement,  in  a  more 
abject  slavery  than  is  perhaps  to  be  found  in  any  part  of  the 
world  except  America,  so  many  souls  that  are  all  capable  of 
the  image  of  God.     We,  therefore,  think  it  our  most  bounden 
duty  to  take  immediately  some  effectual  method  to  extirpate 
this  abomination  from  among  us."     They  then  require  every 
Methodist  to  u  execute  and  record  within  twelve  months  after 
notice  from  the  assistant "  a  legal  instrument  emancipating  all 
slaves,  in  his  possession,  at  specified  ages.     Any  person  con- 
cerned who  should  not  concur  in  this  requirement  had  liberty 
to  leave  the  Church  within .  one  year,  otherwise  the  preacher 
was  to  exclude  him.     No  person  holding  slaves  could  be  ad- 
mitted to  membership,  or  the  Lord's  supper  till  he  had  com- 
plied with  this  law ;  but  it  was  to  be  applied  only  where  the 
laws  of  the  state  permitted.     Methodists  in  Yirginia  were 
allowed  two  years  "  to  consider  the  expedience  of  compliance 
or  non-compliance."     Buying,  selling,  or  giving  away  slaves, 
unless  to  free  them,  was  forbidden  on  penalty  of  expulsion 
from    the    Church.     These    rules    produced    much    hostile 
excitement,   and  were    suspended   in  less  than  six   months. 
Not  a  few    emancipations,  however,    occurred   before   their 
suspension. 

The  Conference  defined  the  salary  or  allowance  of  preach- 


190  HISTORY   OF   THE 

ers  and  their  families.     It  amounted  to  sixty-four  dollars  to 
each,  the  same  sum  to  each  wife  of  a  preacher,  sixteen  dollars 
to  each  child  under  the  age  of  six  years,  and  about  twenty-two 
dollars  to  each  over  six  and  under  eleven  years.     No   pro- 
vision  was   made   for  children  above  eleven  years  old.      It 
also   ordained   that   a   "General   Fund   for   carrying  on  the 
whole  work  of  God  "  should  be  provided  by  "  a  yearly  collec- 
tion, and,  if  need  be,  by  a  quarterly  one,"  in  "every  principal 
congregation."     It  was  a  contingent  fund,  chiefly  for  the  ex- 
penses of  preachers  sent  into  new  or  distant  fields  of  labor. 
It  was  further  enacted  that  it  should  be  recommended  to  com- 
municants to  receive  the  eucharist  kneeling,  but  they  were  to 
be  allowed  to  receive  it  standing  or  sitting.     None  but  mem- 
bers of  the  Church,  or  such  persons  as  received  "  tickets  "  from 
the  preacher,  were  to  be  "  admitted  to  the  communion."     Bap- 
tism was  to  be  administered  according  to  the  choice  of  the  can- 
didate, or,  if  a  child,  of  his  parents,  either  by  sprinkling  or 
immersion.     Kebaptism   of  such  as   had   scruples  respecting 
their  baptism  in  infancy  was  to  be   allowed.     Persons  who 
continued  to  attend  divine  service,  and  to  receive  the  Lord's 
supper  in  other  Churches,  were  to  "have  full  liberty  as  mem- 
bers "  of  Methodist  Societies  while  they  "comply  with  our 
rules."     Members  who  should  persistently  neglect  their  class 
meetings  were  to  be  excluded  from  the  Church,  after  suitable 
warning.      Members  marrying  "  unawakened  persons  "  were 
also  to  be  expelled — a  rule  which  was  modified  in  1804  by 
changing  the  penalty  to  "  putting  back  on  trial  for  six  months." 
Subsequently   all  penalty   was    abolished,    and   the    Church 
pledged  only  to  "  discourage  "  such  marriages. 

Such  are  the  most  important  additions  to,  or  modifications 
of,  the  previous  American  Minutes  and  Wesley's  "Large 
Minutes,"  made  by  the  Christmas  Conference. 

Wesley's  abridgment  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  of  the 
Church  of  England  reduced  them  to  twenty-four,*  and  reduced 
and  amended  several  of  the  retained  articles.     The  positive 

*  There  are,  however,  twenty-five  articles  in  the  Methodist  Discipline;  one, 
"Of  the  Rulers  of  the  United  States  of  America,"  being  added  by  the  Christmas 
Conference. 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  191 

features  of  this  compendium  show  that  the  theology  of  Amer- 
ican Methodism  is  essentially  that  of  the  Anglican  Church  in 
all  things  which,  according  to  that  Church  and  the  general 
consent  of  Christendom,  are  necessary  to  theological  "  ortho- 
doxy," or  the  "  doctrines  of  grace,"  unless  his  entire  omission 
of  the  historically  equivocal  seventeenth  article,  on  "  Predesti- 
nation and  Election,"  be  considered  an  exception.  The  nega- 
tive features  of  these  articles  are,  however,  very  suggestive, 
and  the  careful  study  of  the  document,  in  this  respect,  is  nec- 
essary to  a  just  estimation  of  the  progress  of  Wesley's  theolog- 
ical opinions.  He  obliterates  nearly  every  trace  of  those 
Roman  Catholic  traditional  opinions  which  the  framers  of  the 
Anglican  articles  retained.  The  eighth  article,  recognizing 
the  Nicene,  Athanasian,  and  Apostles'  Creeds,  is  totally  omit- 
ted ;  though  "Wesley,  with  Christendom  generally,  approved 
the  last  as  a  good  expression  of  Christian  doctrine,  and  retained 
it  in  the  baptismal  formula  of  the  new  Church.  But  what  is 
most  noteworthy  in  the  negative  character  of  the  American 
articles  is,  the  fact  that  the  opinions  which  are  deemed  most 
distinctive  of  Wesley  an  theology  have  therein  no  expression, 
if«  indeed  any  intimation.  Wesley  eliminates  the  supposed 
Anglican  Calvinism,  but  he  does  not  introduce  his  own  Ar- 
minianism,  unless  the  thirty-first  Anglican  article  on  the 
"  Oblation  of  Christ "  be  admitted  to  be  Arminian  in  spite  of 
the  seventeenth  article  on  "  Predestination."  In  like  manner 
we  have  no  statement  of  his  doctrines  of  the  "  Witness  of  the 
Spirit"  and  "  Christian  Perfection."  And  yet  no  doctrines 
more  thoroughly  permeate  the  preaching,  or  more  entirely  char- 
acterize the  moral  life  of  Methodism  than  his  opinions  of  the 
universal  salvability  of  men,  assurance,  and  sanctification.  He 
evidently  designed  the  articles  to  be  the  briefest  and  barest 
possible  symbol  of  expedient  doctrines ;  and  not  even  a  requi- 
site condition  of  Church  membership,  though  a  requisite  func- 
tional qualification  for  the  ministry.  He  consigned  his  other 
tenets,  however  precious  to  him,  to  other  means  of  conserva- 
tion and  diffusion ,  for  it  was  not  his  opinion  that  the  ortho. 
doxy  of  a  Church  can  best  guarantee  its  spiritual  life,  but 
rather  that  its  spiritual  life  can  best  guarantee  its  orthodoxy. 


192  HISTORY    OF    THE 

The  Arminianism  of  Wesley  has  been  rightly  so-called.  It 
is  essentially  true  to  the  teaching  of  the  great  theologian  of 
Holland,  though  not  fully  true  to  the  elaborations  of  his  sys- 
tem by  Episcopius  and  Limborch,  and  much  less  to  its  per- 
versions by  its  later  eminent  representatives.  His  Arminianism 
was  far  from  being  that  mongrel  system  of  semi-Pelagianism 
and  semi-Socinianism  which,  for  generations,  was  denounced 
by  New  England  theologians  as  Arminianism,  until  the  most 
erudite  Calvinistic  authority  of  the  eastern  states  (Stuart,  of 
Andover)  rebuked  the  baseless  charge  and  bade  his  brethren 
be  no  longer  guilty  of  it. 

Of  Wesley's  doctrine  of  Assurance,  founded  upon  the  text, 
"  The  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness  with  our  spirits  that  we  are 
the  children  of  God ;"  and  upon  analogous  Scripture  passages, 
I  have  already  said  that  it  was  not  a  peculiar  opinion  of 
Methodism,  but  common,  in  its  essential  form,  to  the  leading 
bodies  of  Christendom,  Greek,  Roman,  and  Protestant ;  that, 
as  a  high  theological  as  well  as  philosophical  authority  of 
our  times  (Sir  William  Hamilton)  has  declared,  "  Assurance 
was  long  universally  held  in  the  Protestant  communities  to  be 
the  criterion  and  condition  of  a  true  or  saving  faith ;  that 
Luther  declares,  'He  who  hath  not  assurance  spews  faith 
out ;'  and  Melancthon,  that  '  assurance  is  the  discriminating 
line  of  Christianity  from  heathenism  ;'  that  assurance  is  indeed 
the  punctum  saliens  of  Luther's  system,  and  unacquaintance 
with  this,  his  great  central  doctrine,  is  one  prime  cause  of  the 
chronic  misrepresentation  which  runs  through  our  recent  his- 
tories of  Luther  and  the  Keformation ;  that  assurance  is  no 
less  strenuously  maintained  by  Calvin,  is  held  even  by  Armin- 
ius,  and  stands  essentially  part  and  parcel  of  all  the  confes- 
sions of  all  Churches  of  the  Reformation  down  to  the  West- 
minister Assembly."  Wesley  defines  the  doctrine  clearly. 
"  By  the  testimony  of  the  Spirit,"  he  says,  "  I  mean  an  inward 
impression  on  the  soul,  whereby  the  Spirit  of  God  immediately 
and  directly  witnesses  to  my  spirit  that  I  am  a  child  of  God ; 
that  Jesus  Christ  hath  loved  me,  and  given  himself  for  me ; 
that  all  my  sins  are  blotted  out,  and  I,  even  I,  am  reconciled 
to  God.     Meantime  let  it  be  observed,  I  do  not  mean  herebv 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  193 

that  the  Spirit  of  God  testifies  this  by  any  outward  voice ;  no, 
nor  always  by  an  inward  voice,  although  he  may  do  this  some- 
times. Neither  do  I  suppose  that  he  always  applies  to  the 
heart  (though  he  often  may)  one  or  more  texts  of  Scripture ; 
but  he  so  works  upon  the  soul  by  his  immediate  influence,  and 
by  a  strong,  though  inexplicable  operation,  that  the  stormy 
wind  and  troubled  waves  subside,  and  there  is  a  sweet  calm, 
the  heart  resting  in  Jesus,  and  the  sinner  being  clearly  satis- 
fied that  all  his  iniquities  are  forgiven  and  his  sins  covered." 

For  his  doctrine  of  Sanctification,  Wesley  adopted  the  title 
of  "  Perfection,"  because  he  found  it  so  used  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. Paul  and  John  he  deemed  sufficient  authorities  for  the 
use  of  an  epithet,  which  he  knew,  however,  would  be  liable  to 
the  cavils  of  criticism.  The  Christian  world  had  also  largely 
recognized  the  term  in  the  writings  of  Clemens  Alexandrinus, 
Macarius,  a  Kempis,  Fenelon,  Lucas,  and  other  writers,  Papal 
and  Protestant.  Fletcher  of  Madeley,  an  example  as  well  as 
an  authority  of  the  doctrine,  published  an  essay  on  it,  proving 
it  to  be  Scriptural  as  well  as  sanctioned  by  the  best  theological 
writers.  Wesley's  theory  of  the  doctrine  is  precise  and  intel- 
ligible, though  often  distorted  into  perplexing  difficulties  by 
both  its  advocates  and  opponents.  He  taught  not  absolute, 
nor  angelic,  nor  Adamic,  but  "  Christian  perfection."  Each 
sphere  of  being  has  its  own  normal  limits  ;  God  alone  has  ab- 
solute perfection ;  the  angels  have  a  perfection  of  their  own 
above  that  of  humanity,  at  least  of  the  humanity  of  our  own 
sphere ;  unfallen  man,  represented  by  Adam,  occupied  a  pecul- 
iar sphere  in  the  divine  economy,  with  its  own  relations  to 
the  divine  government,  its  own  "  perfection,"  called  by  Wes- 
ley Adamic  perfection ;  fallen,  but  regenerated  man,  has  also 
his  peculiar  sphere,  as  a  subject  of  the  mediatorial  economy, 
and  the  highest  practicable  virtue  (whatever  it  may  be)  in  that 
sphere  is  its  "perfection,"  is  Christian  perfection. 

Admitting  such  a  theory  of  perfection,  the  most  important 
question  has  respect  to  its  practical  limit.  When  can  it  be 
said  of  a  Christian  man  that  he  is  thus  perfect?  Wesley 
taught  that  perfect  Christians  "are  not  free  from  ignorance, 
no,  nor  from  mistake.     We  are  no  more  to  expect  any  man  to» 

13 


194:  HISTORY    OF    THE 

be  infallible  than  to  be  omniscient.  .  .  .  From  infirmities 
none  are  perfectly  freed  till  their  spirits  return  to  God  ;  neither 
can  we  expect,  till  then,  to  be  wholly  freed  from  temptation ; 
for  '  the  servant  is  not  above  his  Master.'  But  neither  in  this 
sense  is  there  any  absolute  perfection  on  earth.  There  is  no 
perfection  of  degrees,  none  which  does  not  admit  of  a  contin 
ual  increase.  .  .  .  The  proposition  which  I  will  hold  is  this : 
*  Any  person  may  be  cleansed  from  all  sinful  tempers,  and  yet 
need  the  atoning  blood.'  For  what?  For  ' negligences  and 
ignorances ,'  for  both  words  and  actions,  (as  well  as  omissions,) 
which  are,  in  a  sense,  transgressions  of  the  perfect  law.  And 
I  believe  no  one  is  clear  of  these  till  he  lays  down  this  cor- 
ruptible body."  Perfection,  as  defined  by  Wesley,  is  not  then 
perfection,  according  to  the  absolute  moral  law ;  it  is  perfec- 
tion according  to  the  special  remedial  economy  introduced  by 
the  atonement,  in  which  the  heart,  being  sanctified,  fulfills  the 
law  by  love,  (Rom.  xii,  8,  10,)  and  its  involuntary  imperfec- 
tions are  provided  for,  by  that  economy,  without  the  imputa- 
tion of  guilt,  as  in  the  case  of  infancy  and  all  irresponsible 
persons.  The  only  question,  then,  can  be,  Is  it  possible  for 
good  men  so  to  love  God  that  all  their  conduct,  inward  and 
outward,  shall  be  swayed  by  love  ?  that  even  their  involuntary 
defects  shall  be  swayed  by  it  ?  Is  there  such  a  thing  as  the 
inspired  writer  calls  the  "perfect  love"  which  "casteth  out 
fear?"  (1  John  iv,  18.)  Wesley  believed  that  there  is;  that  it 
is  the  privilege  of  all  saints ;  and  that  it  is  to  be  attained  by 
faith.  "I  want  you  to  be  all  love"  he  wrote,  "this  is  the 
perfection  I  believe  and  teach;  and  this  perfection  is  con- 
sistent with  a  thousand  nervous  disorders,  which  that  high- 
strained  perfection  is  not.  Indeed,  my  judgment  is,  that  (in 
this  case  particularly)  to  overdo  is  to  undo ;  and  that  to  set 
perfection  too  high  is  the  most  effectual  way  of  driving  it  out 
of  the  world."  He  taught  that  this  sanctification  is  usually 
gradual,  but  may  be  instantaneous;  as,  like  justification,  it  is 
to  be  received  by  faith. 

Methodism  has  in  its  Anglican  Articles  a  general,  though  a 
very  brief,  platform,  consisting  of  the  leading  dogmas  of  the 
universal  Church.      Aside  from  this,  it  preaches,  especially, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  195 

Universal  Redemption,  Assurance,  and  Perfection.  The  latter 
are  special  to  it,  not  so  much  as  opinions,  (for  they  are  stilb 
more  or  less,  common  to  the  Christian  world,)  but  by  the 
special  emphasis  with  which  Methodism  utters  them.  They 
are  the  staple  ideas  of  its  preaching,  of  its  literature,  of  its 
colloquial  inquiries  in  its  class  meetings,  prayer-meetings,  and 
in  the  Christian  intercourse  of  its  social  life.  Though,  as  has 
been  stated,  the  success  of  the  denomination  cannot  be  ex- 
plained apart  from  its  disciplinary  system  and  its  spiritual 
energy,  yet  unquestionably  its  spiritual  life  and  its  practical 
system  could  not  long  subsist  without  its  special  theology. 

The  clerical  or  ministerial  bodies  of  the  denomination  were 
now  the  General,  the  Annual,  and  the  Quarterly  Conferences, 
the  last,  however,  including  its  Official  Laymen. 

The  Christmas  Conference  was  the  first  General  Conference ; 
that  is  to  say,  all  the  Annual  Conferences  were  supposed  to  be 
there  assembled.  It  was,  therefore,  the  supreme  judicatory 
of  the  Church.  It  was  not  yet  a  delegated  body,  but  the 
whole  ministry  in  session.  It  made  no  provision  for  any 
future  session  of  the  kind ;  but  for  some  years  legislative  en- 
actments were  made,  as  heretofore :  every  new  measure  being 
submitted  to  each  Annual  Conference  by  the  superintendents, 
and  the  majority  of  all  being  necessary  to  its  validity.  An- 
other General  Conference  was  held,  however,  in  1792,  no 
official  minutes  of  which  are  extant.  The  third  session  was 
held  in  1796,  a  compendium  of  the  minutes  of  which  was  pub- 
lished. Thereafter  a  session  has  been  held  regularly  every 
four  years,  and  the  minutes  of  each  preserved.  In  the  session 
of  1808  a  motion  was  adopted  for  the  better  organization  of 
the  Conference  as  a  "  delegated  "  body.  In  1812  it  met  in 
New  York  City  as  a  "  Delegated  General  Conference,"  under 
constitutional  restrictions,  which  gave  it  the  character  of  a 
renewed  organization. 

Until  the  appointment  of  stated  or  regular  General  Confer- 
ences, the  Annual  Conferences  continued  to  be  considered 
local  or  sectional  meetings  of  the  one  undivided  ministry, 
held  in  different  localities  for  the  local  convenience  of  its 
members,    every   general   or  legislative   measure   being   sub- 


196  IIISTOEY   OF    THE 

mitted,  as  we  have  seen,'  to  all  the  sessions  before  it  could  be- 
come law.  Down  to  1784  there  had  been  but  two  regular 
sessions  a  year  announced,  though  more  were  sometimes  irreg- 
ularly held.  The  enlargement  of  the  denomination  now  re- 
quired more  annual  sessions ;  three  were  appointed  for  1785  : 
one  in  Maryland,  one  in  Yirginia,  and  one  in  North  Carolina. 
These  sufficed  till  1788,  when  six  were  held.  The  next  year 
they  increased  to  eleven,  and  in  1790  to  fourteen,  two  being 
held  beyond  the  Alleghanies. 

The  proceedings  of  the  Annual  Conference  were  conducted 
in  the  form  of  questions  and  answers,  as  follows:  "What 
preachers  are  admitted?  Who  remain  on  trial?  Who  are 
admitted  on  trial  ?  Who  desist  from  traveling  ?  Are  there 
any  objections  to  any  of  the  preachers  ?  who  are  named  one 
by  one.  How  are  the  preachers  stationed  this  year  ?  What 
numbers  are  in  the  Society?  What  was  contributed  for  the 
contingent  expenses?  How  was  this  expended?  What  is 
contributed  toward  the  fund  for  the  superannuated  preachers, 
and  the  widows  and  orphans  of  the  preachers  ?  What  de- 
mands are  there  upon  it  ?  How  many  preachers'  wives  are  to 
be  provided  for?  By  what  circuits,  and  in  what  proportion? 
Where  and  when  may  our  next  Conference  begin  ?  How  can 
we  provide  for  superannuated  preachers,  and  the  widows  and 
orphans  of  preachers  ? "  The  presiding  bishop  made  out  the 
appointments  to  circuits,  for  the  next  ecclesiastical  year,  of  all 
the  preachers  within  the  territory  of  the  Conference.  At  the 
close  of  the  Conference,  after  singing  and  prayer,  he  read  usually 
to  a  crowded  house,  and  amid  breathless  stillness  and  solem- 
nity, the  "  list  of  appointments  ; "  most  if  not  all  the  appointed 
preachers  having  had  no  previous  knowledge  of  the  fate  thus 
assigned  them  for  the  ensuing  year.  The  reading  of  the  list 
was  like  the  announcement  of  an  order  of  battle.  It  was 
heard  by  the  militant  itinerants  with  ejaculations  of  prayer, 
with  sobs,  and  shouts.  Few,  if  any,  revolted,  for  the  post  of 
greatest  difficulty  was  considered  the  post  of  greatest  honor. 

The  Quarterly  Conference  was  a  more  local  body,  held, 
in  accordance  with  its  title,  on  each  circuit  once  in  three 
months,  and  was  composed  of  the  preachers  of  the  circuit,  its 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  197 

local  preachers,  exhorters,  leaders,  stewards,  and  later,  its 
trustees  and  Sunday-school  superintendents.  It  had,  subor- 
dinate^ to  the  Annual  Conference,  jurisdiction  over  all  the 
interests  of  the  circuit :  its  finances,  the  authorization  of  its 
local  preachers  and  exhorters,  and,  later,  a  class  of  judicial  ap- 
peals, and  the  recommendation  of  candidates  for  the  Annual 
Conferences.  Its  exercises  were  largely,  mostly  indeed,  spir- 
itual. It  continued  in  session  about  two  days,  during  which 
there  were  almost  incessant  sessions,  sermons,  prayer-meet- 
ings, or  love-feasts. 

The  ministry  now  consisted  of  bishops,  (instead  of  the 
former  "  general  assistant,")  "  assistants,"  and  "  helpers  ;  "  for 
though  the  new  titles  of  elders  and  deacons  appear  in  the 
Minutes  of  the  next  year,  the  ordained  men  amount  to  but 
twenty-four,  out  of  a  hundred  and  four.  These  were  designed 
to  supply  the  sacraments  to  the  Societies,  as  far  as  practicable  ; 
subsequently  the  elders  were  placed  in  charge  of  districts 
comprehending  several  circuits,  and  thence  arose  the  perma- 
nent office  of  presiding  elder,  not  for  the  administration  of  the 
sacraments,  but  for  many  and  important  executive  functions. 
In  time,  all  preachers  on  their  admission  to  the  Conference 
as  members  were  ordained  deacons,  and,  in  two  years  more, 
elders.  The  titles  "  assistants "  and  "  helpers  "  were  then 
dropped. 

The  functions  of  the  bishop  have  been  mostly  defined.  His 
powers  were  extraordinary,  almost  plenary ;  but  he  was  sub- 
jected to  an  extraordinary  amenability.  Besides  presiding  in 
the  Conferences,  he  made  absolutely  the  appointments,  or  an- 
nual distribution  of  the  preachers,  having  yet  no  "  cabinet "  of 
presiding  elders,  a  species  of  council  which  usage  has  since 
established,  though  it  has  no  recognition  in  the  Discipline. 
In  the  intervals  of  the  Conference  he  could  receive,  change,  or 
suspend  preachers.  He  decided  finally  appeals  from  both 
preachers  and  people.  Ordinations  depended  upon  the  vote 
of  a  majority  of  the  Conference ;  but  the  bishop  had  a  veto 
power  over  any  such  vote.  He  could  unite  two  or  more 
Annual  Conferences,  and  appointed  the  times  and  places 
of  their  sessions.     But  he   could  be  deposed  and   expelled 


198  HISTORY   OF    THE 

from  the  Church  not  only  for  crime,  but  for  "  improper 
conduct,"  a  liability  to  which  no  other  preacher,  nor  the 
lowliest  private  member,  was  exposed.  He  had  no  higher 
salary  than  his  ministerial  brethren ;  he  was  allowed  no  local 
diocese,  but  must  travel  through  the  denomination. 

The  "  assistant "  was  really  the  "  preacher  in  charge  "  of  the 
circuit,  as  he  was  subsequently  called.  He  was  esteemed  the 
assistant  of  the  bishop,  and  had  charge  of  the  other  preacher^ 
on  the  circuit  as  his  "  helpers."  His  duties  were  minutely 
enumerated  in  1784.  He  was  "  to  see  that  the  other  preachers 
in  his  circuit  behave  well  and  want  nothing;  to  renew  the 
tickets  quarterly,  and  regulate  the  bands;  to  take  in  or  put 
out  of  the  Society  or  the  bands ;  to  appoint  all  the  stewards 
and  leaders,  and  change  them  when  he  sees  it  necessary ; 
to  keep  watch-nights  and  love-feasts;  to  hold  Quarterly 
Meetings,  and  therein  diligently  to  inquire  both  into  the 
temporal  and  spiritual  state  of  each  Society;  to  take  care 
that  every  Society  be  duly  supplied  with  books,  which  ought 
to  be  in  every  house;  to  take  exact  lists  of  his  Societies, 
and  bring  them  to  the  Conference  ;  to  send  an  account  of  his 
circuit  every  half  year  to  one  of  the  superintendents ;  to  meet 
the  married  men  and  women,  and  the  single  men  and  women 
in  the  large  Societies  once  a  quarter  ;  to  overlook  the  accounts 
of  all  the  stewards ;  to  take  a  regular  catalogue  of  his  So- 
cieties as  they  live  in  house-rows ;  to  leave  his  successor  a 
particular  account  of  the  state  of  the  circuit ;  vigorously,  but 
calmly,  to  enforce  the  rules  concerning  needless  ornaments, 
and  drams ;  as  soon  as  there  are  four  men  or  women  believers 
in  any  place,  to  put  them  into  a  band ;  to  suffer  no  love-feast 
to  last  above  an  hour  and  a  half;  everywhere  to  recommend 
decency  and  cleanliness ;  to  read  the  rules  of  the  Society,  with 
the  aid  of  his  helpers,  once  a  year  in  every  congregation,  and 
once  a  quarter  in  every  Society." 

All  preachers,  except  the  bishops  and  assistants,  were  called 
"helpers,"  whether  members  or  probationers  of  the  Con- 
ference. The  Christmas  session  defined  the  duties  of  a  helper 
to  be,  "  1.  To  preach.  2.  To  meet  the  Society  and  the  bands 
weekly.     3.  To  visit  the  sick.     4.  To  meet  the  leaders  weekly." 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CIIUPvCII.  199 

It  was  added,  "Let  every  preacher  be  particularly  exact  in 
this,  and  in  morning  preaching.  If  he  has  twenty  hearers,  let 
him  preach ! "  The  helper  was  not  allowed,  "  on  any  pre- 
tense," to  administer  the  Lord's  supper;  nor  to  "read  the 
morning  and  evening  service"  in  the  congregation,  except 
when  authorized  by  a  written  direction  from  a  bishop. 

Besides  this  system  of  ministerial  assemblies,  functions,  and 
regimen,  American  Methodism  consisted,  first,  of  local  or 
individual  Societies,  composed  of  members  and  probationers, 
divided  into  classes  of  twelve  or  more  persons,  and  meeting 
weekly  under  the  care  of  a  class  leader  for  religious  counsel 
and  the  contribution  of  money  for  the  support  of  the  Church 
according  to  the  General  Rules.  The  leaders  were  met  at 
first  weekly,  afterward  monthly,  by  the  preacher.  Each  So- 
ciety had  its  trustees  holding  the  chapel  property  ;  its  stewards 
having  charge  of  its  other  finances ;  and,  in  many  cases,  its 
licensed  exhorters  and  local  preachers,  men  who  pursued 
secular  avocations  but  labored  as  public  teachers  whenever 
they  found  opportunity.  The  exhorter  usually  graduated  to 
the  office  of  local  preacher,  and  thence  to  the  traveling  ministry. 
This,  in  fine,  was  the  recruiting  process  of  the  Annual  Con- 
ference. Secondly,  of  circuits  composing  a  group  of  many 
local  Societies,  extending  in  some  cases  five  hundred  miles,  re- 
quiring from  two  to  six  or  more  weeks  to  travel  around  them, 
and  supplied  by  an  "  assistant "  and  two  or  three  "  helpers," 
who  were  aided  by  the  local  preachers,  the  class  leaders  main- 
taining a  minute  pastoral  oversight  in  the  Societies  during  the 
absence  of  the  itinerants.  Thirdly,  (though  at  a  somewhat 
later  date,)  of  districts  comprising  several  circuits  and  superin- 
tended by  a  presiding  elder. 

Thus  had  the  new  Church  assumed  an  organic  form:  its 
series  of  synodal  bodies,  extending  from  the  fourth  of  a  year  to 
four  years,  from  the  local  circuit  to  the  whole  nation ;  its 
series  of  pastoral  functionaries,  class  leaders,  exhorters,  local 
preachers,  circuit  preachers,  district  preachers  or  presiding 
elders,  and  bishops  whose  common  diocese  was  the  entire 
country;  its  prayer-meetings,  band-meetings,  class  meetings, 
love-feasts,  and  almost  daily  preaching ;  its  liturgy,  articles  of 


200  HISTORY    OF    THE 

religion,  psalmody,  and  singularly  minute  moral  discipline,  as 
prescribed  in  its  "  general  rules  "  and  ministerial  regimen. 
Its  system  was  remarkably  precise  and  consecutive,  and,  as 
seen  in  our  day  by  its  results,  as  remarkably  effective.  Down 
to  the  Christmas  Conference  it  had  been  for  nearly  a  score 
of  years  in  its  forming  process. 

American  Methodism  is  now  to  enter  a  new  historic  career, 
a  career  of  unparalleled  success.     From  its  very  birth  till  near 
the  present  date  it  has  been   struggling,  advancing,  or  re- 
treating, amid  the  agitations  and  obstructions  of  the  American 
Revolution.     Its  whole  history,  before  the  arrival  of  Coke, 
wears  an  aspect  of  vagueness,  of  uncertainty.     Hereafter  it  is 
to  proceed  with  a  definitive  and  more  historic  scope.     Asbury 
and  other  men,  heretofore  only  occasional  or  irregular  leaders, 
rise  into  the  character  of  heroes  on  the  scene ;  great  measures, 
great   triumphs,   great   men  crowd   it — a  series  of  apostolic 
bishops,  not  a  few  extraordinary  "  pulpit  orators,"  missionaries 
to  the  savages,  the  slaves,  and  to  foreign  nations,  an  unequaled 
publishing  agency,  provisions    of  education,  with  academies 
and  colleges  in   most  if  not  all  the  multiplying  states  of  the 
Union ;  the  advance  of  the  denomination  into  New  England, 
into  Canada,  over  the  Alleghanies,  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  Valley  of  the   Mississippi,  over  the   Rocky 
Mountains,  to  the   shores  of  the   Pacific ;    foreign   evangeli- 
zation, reaching  to  many  of  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  un- 
equaled numerical  growth.     We  have  passed  through  about 
eighteen  years,  and  the  statistics  of  the  forming  denomination 
show  less  than  fifteen  thousand  members,  and  about  eighty 
preachers  ;  in  the  next  score  they  are  to  advance  to  more  than 
a  hundred  and  thirteen  thousand  members,  and  four  hundred 
preachers;    and   the   one   Conference,    with    its   two   annual 
sessions,  is   to   multiply   into   many,  extending   from   Maine 
to  Georgia,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi.     In  some 
single  years,  within  this  period,  the  increase  of  members  is  to 
equal  the  whole  numerical  force  reported  at  the  close  of  these 
years  of  preliminary  labor  and  suffering. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  201 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

PROGRESS  FROM  THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE   CHURCH  TO  THE 
FIRST  REGULAR  GENERAL   CONFERENCE:    1785-1792. 

The  little  ecclesiastical  bark,  built  amid  such  troubled 
auspices,  was  now  fairly  launched  upon  the  subsiding  tumults 
of  the  country.  Methodism  presented  itself  to  the  new  nation, 
an  Episcopal  Church,  with  all  the  necessary  functions  and 
functionaries  of  such  a  body;  the  only  one,  of  Protestant 
denomination,  now  in  the  nation,  for  the  colonial  fragments  of 
the  English  Establishment  had  not  yet  been  reorganized. 

The  new  Church  had  now  eighteen  thousand  members  and 
one  hundred  and  four  itinerant  preachers,*  besides  some  hun- 
dreds of  local  preachers  and  exhorters,  who  were  incessantly 
laboring  in  its  service.  The  number  of  its  habitual  hearers  or 
adherents,  aside  from  its  members,  was  greater,  in  proportion 
to  its  actual  members,  than  at  any  subsequent  period  of  its 
history,  for  many  of  the  members  of  the  English  Church  in 
Delaware,  Maryland,  and  Virginia  now  had  no  other  ministry 
than  that  of  the  Methodist  itinerancy.  Its  congregations  were 
the  largest  in  the  country.  It  would  be  safe  to  estimate  the 
Methodist  community  at  this  time  at  about  two  hundred  thou- 
sand, including  all  habitual  attendants  on  its  worship.  It  had 
more  than  sixty  chapels,  the  names  of  which  are  recorded.  It 
had  organized  Societies  in  the  state  of  New  York  as  far  north 
as  Ashgrove,  and  on  Long  Island  and  Staten  Island.  In  every 
county  of  West  Jersey  it  had  them,  and  in  several  counties  of 
East  Jersey.  In  Pennsylvania  it  had  them,  not  only  in  Phil- 
adelphia, but  in  Bucks,  Montgomery,  Chester,  Lancaster, 
Berks,  and  York  Counties,  and  in  the  southern  tier  of  counties 
as  far  as  Bedford ;  and  it  had  borne  its  standard  across  the 
Alleghanies  and  planted  it  in  the  Bedstone  settlement.     It  was 

*  Estimated  from  the  next  Minutes. 


202  HISTORY  OF   THE 

also  extending  its  march  rapidly  up  the  Juniata.  It  had 
established  itself  strongly  in  every  county  of  Maryland  and 
Delaware,  and  was  already  the  dominant  popular  religious 
power  in  these  states.  In  Yirginia  it  had  not  only  unfurled 
its  banner,  but  planted  it  in  impregnable  positions  in  almost 
every  county  east  of  the  Alleghanies,  and  was  bearing  it  suc- 
cessfully to  the  heights  of  the  western  mountains.  It  had 
crossed  them  at  one  point  at  least,  and  its  joyous  melodies 
were  sounding  at  the  headwaters  of  the  Holston,  ,and  evoking 
welcoming  echoes  from  its  emigrant  people  in  the  primeval 
forests  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky.  With  the  exception  of 
some  of  the  southwestern,  and  a  few  of  the  southeastern 
counties  of  North  Carolina,  it  had  extended  over  that  state, 
and  had  won  important  fields  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia, 
whither  preachers  were  dispatched  the  next  year. 

With  liberty  and  peace  in  the  land,  and  organized  order 
in  the  Church,  the  itinerants  dispersed  from  the  Christmas 
Conference  to  resume  their  labors  with  a  confidence  and 
hopefulness  such  as  they  had  never  known  before.  Coke 
spent  five  months  in  the  states  after  the  session,  laboring 
incessantly.  He  was  not  content  with  the  organization  of  the 
Church,  but,  as  we  have  seen,  projected,  with  Asbury,  its  first 
educational  institution,  and,  while  the  Christmas  Conference 
was  yet  in  session,  made  arrangements  and  begged  funds  for 
the  mission  of  Garrettson  to  Nova  Scotia.  After  one  of  his 
sermons,  at  the  session,  he  took  up  a  collection  of  about  a 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  it.  On  the  3d  of  January  he  left 
the  city  and  rested  for  the  night  at  Perry  Hall,  but  was  away 
the  next  morning  for  the  North.  Returning  he  passed  south- 
ward to  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  westward  till  he  saw  the  Blue 
Ridge,  and  returning,  traveled  with  Asbury  to  Mount  Vernon, 
wThere  they  dined,  by  appointment,  with  Washington.  "He 
received  us,"  says  Coke,  "  very  politely,  and  was  very  open  to 
access.  He  is  quite  the  plain  country  gentleman.  After 
dinner  we  desired  a  private  interview,  and  opened  to  him  the 
grand  business  on  which  we  came,  presenting  to  him  our  peti- 
tion for  the  emancipation  of  the  negroes,  and  entreating  his 
signature,  if  the  eminence  of  his  station  did  not  render  it  inex- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  203 

pedient  for  him  to  sign  any  petition.  He  informed  us  that  he 
was  of  our  sentiments,  and  had  signified  his  thoughts  on  the 
subject  to  most  of  the  great  men  of  the  State;  that  he  did  not 
see  it  proper  to  sign  the  petition,  but  if  the  Assembly  took  it 
into  consideration,  would  signify  his  sentiments  to  the  As- 
sembly  by  a  letter.  He  asked  us  to  spend  the  evening  and 
lodge  at  his  house,  but  our  engagement  at  Annapolis  the  fol- 
lowing day  would  not  admit  of  it."  Such  was  the  interest  of  the 
young  Church  against  slavery ;  it  seemed,  as  by  a  divine  in- 
spiration, to  be  conscious,  from  the  beginning,  of  the  impor- 
tance of  this  question  to  the  religious  and  political  well-being 
of  the  new  nation.  Ever  since  its  Conference  of  1780,  it  had 
uttered  its  voice  against  the  evil.  Down  to  our  day  it  has 
not  failed  one  hour  to  bear  its  recorded  testimony  in  favor  of 
the  "  extirpation  "  of  the  unchristian  institution. 

On  June  1st,  Coke  and  Asbury  met  the  preachers  in  Confer- 
ence at  Baltimore.  As  the  doctor  was  to  leave  for  Europe  the 
next  day,  they  sat  till  midnight.  He  preached  before  them  at 
noon,  urging  ministerial  faithfulness ;  and  also  early  the  next 
morning,  on  "  St.  Paul's  awful  exhortation  to  the  elders  of  the 
Church  at  Ephesus,  Acts  xx."  In  a  few  hours  he  was  sailing 
out  of  the  harbor. 

Asbury  preached  his  first  sermon,  after  his  ordination,  in 
the  evening  of  the  day  on  which  the  Christmas  Conference  ad- 
journed, Jan.  3,  1785,  at  Baltimore,  on  Eph.  iii,  8,  "Unto  me, 
who  am  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints,  is  this  grace  given, 
that  I  should  preach  among  the  Gentiles  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ."  The  next  day  he  was  in  the  saddle,  riding 
forty  miles  through  the  snow  to  Fairfax,  Ya.  He  traveled  an 
average  of  thirty  miles  a  day  on  horseback,  preaching,  reading 
prayers,  and  baptizing  almost  daily,  and  occasionally  ordain- 
ing an  itinerant.  The  fatigues  of  the  route  broke  down  his 
horse,  but  he  obtained  another.  Jesse  Lee  and  Henry  Willis 
joined  him,  and  accompanied  him  as  far  as  Charleston,  S.  C. 
He  found  the  people  generally  gratified  by  the  Episcopal  or- 
ganization of  the  Church,  and  its  provision  of  the  sacraments. 
They  were  hospitably  entertained  in  Charleston  about  two 
weeks,  and  preached  every  day.     Before  they  departed  their 


204  HISTORY    OF    THE 

host  was  converted.  Willis  was  left  to  maintain  the  Methodist 
standard  in  the  city. 

Leaving  Charleston,  Asbury  returned  through  North  Carolina 
and  Virginia,  proclaiming  his  message  along  the  whole  route, 
and  attending  Conferences.  On  Sunday,  5th  of  June,  1785, 
two  days  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Baltimore  Conference, 
he  laid,  with  solemn  forms,  the  corner-stone  of  Cokesbury  Col- 
lege, at  Abingdon,  Md.  As  early  as  1780,  John  Dickins  sug- 
gested to  Asbury,  as  has  already  been  recorded,  the  plan  of  a 
Methodist  academic  institution.  At  the  first  interview  of  Coke 
with  Asbury,  at  Barrett's  Chapel,  Asbury  submitted  the  propo- 
sition to  the  doctor  who  zealously  approved  it,  and  procured 
from  the  Christmas  Conference  a  vote  that  it  should  be  imme- 
diately  attempted  as  a  collegiate  establishment.  Nearly  five 
thousand  dollars  were  quickly  raised  for  the  purpose.  Coke  had 
now  contracted  for  the  building  materials,  but  could  not  stay  to 
witness  the  beginning  of  the  work.  The  site,  about  twenty-five 
miles  from  Baltimore,  is  one  of  the  most  commanding  in  the 
state ;  beautiful  views  extend  in  some  directions '  twenty,  in 
others  fifty  miles.  The  picturesque  landscapes  of  the  Susque- 
hanna valley  lay  on  either  side  of  the  river,  and  the  magnifi- 
cent Chesapeake  Bay  stretches  away  in  the  distance  till  lost  in 
the  ocean. 

Abingdon  soon  became  a  favorite  resort  for  families  desiring 
a  healthful  locality,  and  the  advantages  of  a  good  school.  It 
accommodated  the  Conference  in  1786 ;  it  became  customary, 
indeed,  for  the  Baltimore  Conference  to  begin  its  session  in  the 
city,  and  adjourn  to  Cokesbury  College  for  the  conclusion  of  its 
deliberations. 

During  its  ten  years'  history,  Cokesbury  College  acquired  an 
extensive  fame.  It  was  a  shelter  to  the  children  of  the  preach- 
ers, a  favorite  resort  of  the  itinerants,  and  an  honor  to  the 
Church.  But  Asbury  suffered  hardly  less  trouble,  in  support- 
ing and  managing  it,  than  Wesley  did  in  sustaining  Kings- 
wood  Seminary.  It  was  destroyed  by  fire,  at  midnight, 
December  7,  1795. 

Returning  from  the  ceremonies  at  Abingdon,  Asbury  re- 
posed a  short  time  at  Perry  Hall,  and  then  resumed  his  Episco- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  205 

pal  itinerancy  with  his  usual  energy,  preaching  from  Balti- 
more to  New  York,  from  New  York  to  Charleston,  and 
passing  and  repassing  over  the  same  route  till  he  again  met 
Coke  in  Charleston,  in  March,  1787,  and  found  there  a  spa- 
cious chapel  prepared  for  them. 

Asbury  provided  the  doctor  with  a  vigorous  horse,  and  they 
both  set  out  together  to  travel  and  preach  through  nearly  the 
length  of  the  continent.  They  passed  over  three  hundred 
miles  in  one  week,  preaching  every  day.  Asbury  says  they 
had  to  "  swim  upon  their  horses  several  times."  The  roads 
were  generally  bad,  the  forests  dense,  the  swamps  frequent  and 
frightful.  "  The  preachers,"  writes  Coke,  "  ride  here  about 
a  hundred  miles  a  week ;  but  the  swamps  and  morasses  they 
have  to  pass  through  it  is  tremendous  to  relate.  Though  it  is 
now  the  month  of  April,  I  was  above  my  knees  in  water  on 
horseback  in  passing  through  a  deep  morass,  and  that  when  it 
was  almost  dark.  ...  In  traveling,  our  rides  are  so  long  that 
we  are  frequently  on  horseback  till  midnight." 

Coke  returned  to  Philadelphia,  whence  he  embarked  again 
for  Europe  on  the  25th  of  June,  1787. 

Asbury,  again  alone  in  his  vast  Episcopal  labors,  paused  not 
for  rest.  He  hastened  over  much  of  Long  Island,  thence  up 
the  Hudson,  crossing  the  romantic  mountains  of  "West  Point 
to  Newburgh.  In  four  weeks  more  he  had  gone  over  the  mid- 
dle states  as  far  as  Bath,  Ya.  He  sometimes  addressed  a  thou- 
sand people  in  the  woods.  He  was  often  sick,  dragging  his 
infirm  body  along  by  an  energetic  will.  "  Faint,"  he  says,  "  yet 
pursuing."  His  soul  glowed  meanwhile  with  the  spiritual 
exhilaration  of  his  labors.  "  O  what  a  weariness,"  he  ex- 
claims, "  would  life  be  with  without  God  and  love  and  labor  ? " 
He  hastened  to  the  farther  South,  and  wrote,  as  he  journeyed, 
"  I  seldom  mount  my  horse  for  a  ride  of  less  distance  than 
twenty  miles  on  ordinary  occasions,  and  frequently  have  forty 
or  fifty,  in  moving  from  one  circuit  to  the  other.  In  traveling 
thus  I  suffer  much  from  hunger  and  cold."  From  Georgia  he 
directs  his  course  to  the  northwestward  through  the  wilder- 
ness and  ascends  the  Alleghanies.  On  April  28,  1788,  he 
says :  "  After  getting  our  horses  shod  we  made  a  move  for 


206  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Holston,  and  entered  upon  the  mountains;  the  first  of  which 
I  called  steel,  the  second  stone,  and  the  third  iron  mountains ; 
they  are  rough,  and  difficult  to  climb.  This  has  been  an  awful 
journey  to  me,  and  this  a  tiresome  day ;  and  now  I  have 
thirty-five  miles  more  to  General  Russell's.  I  rest  one  day  to 
revive  man  and  beast."  He  had  thus  scaled  the  grand  barrier 
of  the  West;  and  the  great  Mississippi  Valley,  destined  to 
become  the  chief  theater  of  his  Church  and  of  the  nation,  lay 
below  him  in  boundless  range  and  primeval  wilderness.  He 
meets  and  encourages  Tunnell,  and,  hastening  into  Tennessee, 
holds  its  first  Conference ;  the  first  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mis, 
sissippi,  at  Half-Acres  and  Keyswoods,  in  May.  "  We  held," 
he  says,  "  our  Conference  three  days,  and  I  preached  each 
day.  The  weather  was  cold,  the  room  without  fire,  and  other- 
wise uncomfortable.  We  nevertheless  made  out  to  keep  our 
seats  until  we  had  finished  the  essential  parts  of  our  business." 
This  is  all  his  record  of  the  first  ultramontane  Conference. 
There  were  "brethren  from  Kentucky"  present,  for  on  his  route 
he  had  met  them  and  preached  before  them.  He  proclaimed 
the  Gospel  continually  among  the  scattered  settlements,  and, 
returning  into  North  Carolina,  passed  into  Virginia,  still  among 
the  mountains,  and  at  last  reached  Uniontown,  Pa.,  where,  with 
Whatcoat  and  eleven  other  preachers,  he  held  a  Conference  on 
the  22d  of  July,  and  consecrated  what  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  first  Methodist  ordination  beyond  the  Alleghanies.  A  pio- 
neer preacher,  (James  Quinn,)  then  a  youth,  witnessed  the  ses- 
sion, and  thus  alludes  to  it :  "  Mr.  Asbury  officiated,  not  in  the 
costume  of  the  lawn -robed  prelate,  but  as  the  plain  presbyter 
in  gown  and  band,  assisted  by  Richard  Whatcoat,  elder,  in  the 
same  clerical  habit.  The  person  ordained  was  Michael  Leard, 
of  whom  it  was  said  that  he  could  repeat  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  New  Testament  from  memory,  and  also  large  portions  of 
the  Old.  The  scenes  of  that  day  looked  well  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Church  people,  for  not  only  did  the  preachers  appear  in 
sacerdotal  robes,  but  the  morning  service  was  read  as  abridged 
by  Mr.  Wesley.  The  priestly  robes  and  prayer  book  were, 
however,  soon  laid  aside  at  the  same  time,  for  I  have  never 
seen  the  one  nor  heard  the  other  since." 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  207 

The  bishop  continued  to  traverse  the  states  from  New  York 
to  Georgia,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Alleghanies,  having  the 
whole  Episcopal  care  of  the  Societies  till  March,  1789,  when 
Coke  rejoined  him  in  South  Carolina.  He  held  important  Con- 
ferences in  these  years,  but  gives  us  little  or  no  information  of 
historical  interest  about  them.  Coke  flew  rapidly,  and  in 
repeated  visits,  over  the  continent ;  but  Asbury  had  to  bear  the 
burden  and  care  of  the  Churches. 

Whatcoat  has  left  us  but  brief  notes  of  his  travels  and  labors 
in  the  present  period.  Immediately  after  the  Christmas  Con- 
ference he  took  the  field  in  Maryland  and  Delaware  for  about 
half  a  year,  preaching  "  almost  daily,  sometimes  twice  a  day," 
and  administering  the  sacraments  almost  as  frequently.  In 
Kent  County  he  records  more  than  seventy-five  baptisms  on  a 
single  day — such  had  been  the  long  privation  of  this  ordinance 
among  Methodist  families !  In  1786  he  spent  seven  or  eight 
months  in  Philadelphia  and  its  neighborhood,  and  the  next 
year  penetrated  to  the  west  of  Pennsylvania — to  Alleghany, 
Bath,  and  Berkeley  Circuits,  where  he  spent  nearly  fourteen 
months  supplying  the  settlements  with  the  sacraments,  and 
proclaiming  the  word  in  barns  and  woods.  Again  he  was 
sent,  in  1788-89,  to  Maryland  and  Delaware,  the  head-quar- 
ters of  his  charge,  which  was  a  district  with  no  less  than  sixteen 
large  circuits,  extending  from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburgh  and 
Bedstone,  from  the  Maryland  peninsula  to  Ohio.  His  man- 
ners were  devoutly  grave,  but  relieved  by  affectionate  cordial- 
ity, and  he  was  both  revered  and  loved  by  the  people.  His 
preaching  was  often  attended  with  overwhelming  unction,  and 
in  the  administration  of  the  sacraments  he  was  peculiarly  im- 
pressive, rendering  those  solemnities,  frequently,  occasions  of 
great  effect.  In  1789  he  traveled  with  Asbury  to  the  north 
as  far  as  ISTew  York,  and  westward  across  the  Alleghanies  to 
Port  Pitt,  (Pittsburgh,)  and  thence  to  Uniontown,  Pa.,  where 
he  assisted  the  bishop  at  the  first  ordination  beyond  the 
mountains.  Beturning  to  Baltimore,  they  held  on  their  route 
to  Charleston,  S.  C,  where  they  met  the  South  Carolina  Con- 
ference, and  thence  into  Georgia,  where  also  they  held  a  ses- 
sion.    They  then  hastened  westward  to  the  Alleghanies,  and 


208  HISTORY  OF   TIIE 

passed  into  Tennessee  and  Kentucky.  lie  was  present  when 
Asbury  laid  John  Tunnell  to  rest  in  the  grave  among  the 
mountains,  on  their  return.  On  again  reaching  Uniontown, 
Pa.,  he  records  that  "  in  the  last  fifteen  months  we  have  trav- 
eled six  thousand  miles."  In  1790  he  was  flying  to  and  fro 
through  the  middle  states,  supplying  the  sacraments  and 
preaching  continually.  In  1791  he  was  stationed  in  New 
York  city,  where  he  stayed  some  months,  and  was  then  trans- 
ferred to  Baltimore,  where  he  welcomed  the  first  regular  Gen- 
eral Conference  in  1792. 

Benjamin  Abbott  continued  his  irregular  but  effective  labors 
in  New  Jersey  down  to  the  early  part  of  the  year  1789,  when 
he  joined  the  Conference  and  gave  himself  wholly  to  the  work 
of  the  ministry.  He  was  appointed  to  Duchess  Circuit,  New 
York.  It  was  a  new  field,  and  he  encountered  not  a  few  dif- 
ficulties in  it.  He  was  sometimes  mobbed,  and  was  often 
assailed  by  sectarian  zealots,  clerical  as  well  as  lay,  who  insisted 
on  the  discussion  of  his  theology,  especially  his  Arminianism. 
His  righteous  soul  was  vexed  and  wearied  by  such  rencounters. 
The  political  revolution  of  the  country  had  left  the  popular 
mind  in  an  extraordinary  fermentation.  The  agitations  of  the 
war  being  over,  the  people  sought  new  excitements  and  new 
topics  of  discussion ;  wherever  Abbott  went  he  found  them 
ready  for  polemical  contests;  they  thronged  his  assemblies, 
some  weeping,  some  falling  down  as  dead  men  under  his  word, 
but  many  prepared  to  combat  him,  not  only  at  the  door  after 
his  meetings,  but  while  he  was  in  the  act  of  preaching.  Scenes 
were  of  daily  occurrence  which  our  modern  sense  of  the  de- 
corum of  public  worship  render  almost  inconceivable.  The 
good  man  was  sorely  perplexed  ;  he  was  compelled  to  become 
a  polemic,  a  character  which  illy  befitted  him ;  but  he  sturdily 
fought  his  way  forward,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  reported 
about  one  hundred  new  members  in  his  Societies.  He  pene- 
trated as  far  north  as  Albany ;  "  the  alarm,"  he  says,  "  spread 
far  and  wide,"  and  in  some  of  his  assemblies  "  a  dozen  fell  to 
the  floor,  and  there  was  weeping  and  praising  of  God  all 
through  the  house ;"  some  were  justified,  some  sanctified,  and 
others  "  seemed  lost  in  the  ocean  of  redeeming  love."     The 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  209 

next  year  also  he  spent  in  traveling  up  and  down  the  Hudson, 
and  received  into  his  young  Societies  about  a  hundred  con- 
verts. The  ensuing  year  he  was  sent  to  Long  Island ;  he 
traversed  his  extensive  circuit  with  the  zeal  and  power  of  an 
apostle,  triumphing  over  mobs,  preaching  the  word  daily  with 
demonstrations  that  often  overwhelmed  his  assemblies,  pros- 
trating many  of  his  hearers  to  the  floor.  He  formed  numer- 
ous Societies,  and  labored  especially  to  lead  their  members 
into  the  "  deep  things  of  God,"  his  favorite  theme  being  entire 
sanctification.  He  received  between  eighty  and  ninety  souls 
into  the  communion  of  the  Church  during  this  year. 

At  the  next  Conference  he  requested  Asbury  to  appoint  him 
to  the  scenes  of  his  early  labors  in  New  Jersey,  that  he  might 
see  his  "  children  in  the  Gospel  "  on  the  Salem  Circuit.  On 
his  way  he  paused  at  Philadelphia,  and  in  St.  George's  Church, 
where  he  was  to  preach,  the  impression  of  his  introductory 
prayer  was  so  extraordinary  that  no  preaching  was  possible 
after  it.  "  The  power  of  the  Lord,"  he  writes,  "  descended  on 
the  people  in  such  a  manner  that  some  fell  to  the  floor  under 
the  operation  thereof;  the  cry  of  mourners,  and  the  joyful 
acclamations  of  Christians,  were  so  great  that  I  could  not  be 
heard.  Many  cried  aloud,  and  among  them  was  Brother 
Cann,  one  of  our  preachers,  who  was  wonderfully  overcome 
by  the  divine  power.  When  he  came  to,  he  stepped  into  the 
desk  and  publicly  acknowledged  that  he  had  ever  been  an  enemy 
to  people's  crying  aloud,  but  that  he  then  could  not  help  it 
himself ;  that  he  could  no  more  refrain  from  it  than  he  could 
from  dying  if  God  were  to  send  the  messenger  of  death  to 
arrest  his  body.  Our  meeting  continued  until  near  eleven 
o'clock.  No  doubt  that  meeting  is  well  remembered  by  many 
of  our  friends  in  Philadelphia.  O  may  its  good  effects  be  seen 
in  eternity !  It  was  a  gracious  time  to  many  souls ;  several 
professed  justification,  and  some  sanctification." 

Again  among  his  former  neighbors,  he  went  from  place  to 
place  like  "  a  flame  of  fire."  "  There,"  he  says,  "  I  met  many 
of  my  dear  old  friends  whom  I  had  not  seen  for  about  nine 
years  ;  many  of  them  were  as  happy  as  they  could  live."  All 
felt  that  his  mode  of  preaching,  his  peculiar  power,  was  anoma- 

14 


210  HISTORY   OF    THE 

lous,  mysterious,  but  also  that  it  was  beneficent.  If  it  observed 
not  the  dignities  of  public  worship,  still  it  accomplished  the 
ends  of  the  Gospel,  it  awakened  the  heedless,  reformed  the 
profligate,  led  •  believers  into  a  sanctified  life — it  awoke  the 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  and  not  only  crowded  the  chapels, 
but  mightily  recruited  the  Societies.  Almost  everywhere 
multitudes  still  fell,  as  dead  men,  under  his  marvelous  power. 
If  sober  observers  were  disposed  to  revolt  at  the  scene,  they 
were  yet  afterward  constrained  to  acknowledge  that  the  moral 
result  of  his  preaching  was  good,  and  permanently  good. 
Even  some  of  the  quiet  Quakers  declared  that  his  spirit  was 
right,  and  his  peculiar  power  an  unquestionable  inspiration. 
He  preached  in  their  meeting-houses ;  they  attended  his  con- 
gregations in  barns  and  private  houses,  and  sometimes  rose, 
amid  the  clamors  of  mobs,  and  bore  their  "testimony"  that 
the  power  of  God  was  with  him.  The  rabble  often  beset  him, 
sometimes  with  concerted  plans  of  hostility ;  but  he  never 
feared  them,  and  they  always  came  off  defeated. 

The  extraordinary  events  of  his  ministry,  while  they  interest 
us,  inexpressibly,  as  illustrations  of  his  singular  power  and  of 
the  simple  and  rude  character  of  the  times,  perplex  us  also  with 
many  problems,  of  which  it  is  perhaps  vain  to  attempt  any  ex- 
planation. One  thing  at  least  is  clear,  there  could  be  no  moral 
stagnation  in  any  place  which  he  entered.  The  whole  com- 
munity for  miles  around  was  stirred  to  its  obscurest  depths. 
All  talked  about  him ;  the  friendly  defended  and  prayed  with 
tears  for  him,  the  hostile  disputed  about  him,  assailed  him,  were 
prostrated  by  him.  Few,  if  any,  however  indifferent  or  reck- 
less about  matters  of  religion,  could,  if  within  ten  miles  of  his 
routes,  remain  undisturbed.  They  were  compelled  to  share  the 
general  sensation  of  favorable  or  hostile  interest — compelled  to 
think  or  talk  on  the  questions  with  which  his  presence  startled 
the  whole  population.  This,  at  least,  was  a  blessing.  By  it 
hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  otherwise  inaccessible  to  the  Gos- 
pel, were  brought  to  reflect,  to  pray,  and  to  amend  their  lives ; 
and  it  was  especially  true  that  the  grossest  sinners,  the  igno- 
rant and  degraded,  who  could  be  aroused  to  religious  inquiry 
by  none  of  the  customary  means,  were  seized,  as  it  were,  by  this 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  211 

man's  strange  power  and  dragged  up  into  the  light  out  of  their 
darkest  abysses,  and  compelled  to  think,  and  often  to  pray  and 
cry  out  in  an  agony  of  earnestness,  "  What  shall  we  do  to  be 
saved  ? "  He  crowded  the  Methodist  classes  of  New  Jersey 
with  such  souls,  reclaimed,  purified,  and  not  a  few  of  them,  for 
years  after  his  death,  models  of  the  purest  Christian  life.  In 
the  latter  years  of  his  career  we  are,  more  than  ever,  startled 
by  the  anomalous  records  of  his  journals.  He  had  been  so  ac- 
customed to  see  his  hearers  fall  insensible  under  his  preaching, 
that,  in  his  honest  simplicity,  he  now  evidently  considered 
such  demonstrations  the  necessary  proofs  of  the  usefulness  of 
his  ministry;  he  everywhere  expected  them,  and,  in  fact, 
almost  everywhere  had  them.  Sometimes  they  took  a  charac- 
ter of  undeniable  extravagance ;  his  own  simple  but  Christian 
good  sense  could  hardly  fail  to  perceive  this  fact ;  but  to  him 
it  was  only  proof  of  the  mixture  of  human  infirmity  with  the 
work  of  the  divine  Spirit ;  and  his  generous  soul  had  no  diffi- 
culty in  excusing  human  weakness  when  redeemed,  as  he  be- 
lieved in  these  cases,  by  divine  power  and  overshadowed  by 
divine  glory.  Garrettson  and  Asbury  deemed  it  proper  at 
times  to  control,  if  not  restrain  him;  but  they  seem  at  last  to 
have  concluded  that  he  had  a  peculiar  work  to  do,  as  an  alto- 
gether peculiar  man,  and  gave  him  free  course. 

His  next  circuit  was  that  of  Trenton,  still  within  his  old 
range.  He  had  no  sooner  entered  upon  its  territory  than  the 
usual  effects  attended  his  word.  "  On  my  way,"  he  writes,  "  I 
attended  the  Quarterly  Meeting  at  Bethel,  and  exhorted  them 
to  look  for  sanctification,  for  now  was  the  day  of  God's. power ; 
and  the  power  of  the  Lord  fell  on  them  in  such  a  manner  that 
they  fell  to  the  floor,  all  through  the  house,  up  stairs  and 
down,  so  that  speaking  experiences  was  now  at  an  end."  The 
" public  preaching"  had  to  be  dispensed  with  that  morning; 
the  preachers  were  employed  in  counseling  and  praying  with 
the  awakened  multitude;  the  "slain  and  wounded  lay  all 
through  the  house,"  and  the  meeting  lasted  from  nine  o'clock 
in  the  morning  till  near  sunset. 

Abbott  continued  to  labor  in  New  Jersey  with  undiminished 
success.     He  formed  the  first  Methodist  Society  of  New  Brims- 


212  HISTORY   OF    THE 

wick,  consisting  of  nine  members.  At  Princeton,  also,  lie  says, 
"  the  Lord  raised  up  a  Society  of  nine  persons  before  I  left  the 
circuit,  glory  to  God  !  "  He  subsequently  went  to  Maryland, 
whither  we  shall  follow  him  in  due  time. 

Freeborn  Garrettson  was  ordained  at  the  Conference  of  1784, 
and  appointed  to  Nova  Scotia.  His  labors  in  that  province 
were  extraordinary  in  their  extent  and  success,  but  they  will 
come  under  our  notice  hereafter.  In  April,  1787,  he  returned 
to  the  United  States,  by  way  of  Boston,  where  he  preached  in 
private  houses,  not  being  admitted  to  its  pulpits.  At  Provi- 
dence and  Newport  he  addressed  large  assemblies.'  Arriving  in 
New  York  he  hastened  to  the  Conference  at  Baltimore.  Wesley 
had  been  so  impressed,  by  his  success  in  Nova  Scotia,  that  he 
sent  a  request  to  the  Conference  for  his  ordination  as  superin- 
tendent, or  bishop,  for  the  British  dominions  in  America — a 
vast  diocese,  comprising  not  only  the  northeastern  provinces 
and  the  Canadas,  but  also  the  West  India  Islands.  But  the 
Conference  refused  to  spare  him  for  this  service.  He  was 
thus  detained  in  the  States,  and  resumed  his  labors  in  his 
old  field  of  the  Maryland  Peninsula,  where  he  traveled  about 
twelve  months,  visiting,  as  elder,  every  circuit  and  nearly 
every  congregation.  "Multitudes,"  says  his  biographer, 
"  flocked  to  hear  the  word,  some  excited  from  curiosity  to  see 
the  man  of  whom  so  much  had  been  said  in  former  days,  some 
from  a  desire  io  c  learn  the  way  of  the  Lord  more  perfectly,' 
and  numbers  more  to  hear  again  from  the  lips  of  this  flaming 
messenger  of. Christ  those  precious  truths  which  they  had  found 
to  be  i  the  power  of  God  to  their  salvation.'  So  great,  indeed, 
was  the  attention  given  to  the  '  words  of  this  life,'  that  Mr. 
Garrettson  observes,  i  that  it  seemed  as  if  they  would  all  be- 
come Methodists.' " 

In  May,  1788,  he  passed  to  New  York,  designing  to  pioneer 
Methodism  into  New  England ;  and  he  might  thus  have  an- 
ticipated the  great  work  and  honor  of  Jesse  Lee,  had  he  not 
found  Hickson,  the  preacher,  in  New  York,  dying.  He  was 
detained  to  supply  his  place.  In  Nova  Scotia  and  on  the 
Maryland  Peninsula  he  had  acted  as  presiding  elder,  traveling 
at  large,  superintending  the  circuit  preachers,  and  administer- 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  213 

ing  the  sacraments.  Such  were  the  functions  of  the  elders 
ordained  at  the  Christmas  Conference,  though  the  office,  or  at 
least  the  designation  of  presiding  elders,  proper,  was  not  in- 
serted in  the  Minutes  till  years  later.  He  was  now  charged 
with  this  authority,  to  extend  the  march  of  the  Church  up  the 
Hudson.  Many  young  itinerants,  stalwart,  and  flaming  with 
the  zeal  of  the  Gospel,  had  appeared  in  the  field  about  New 
York.  Asbury  requested  Garrettson  to  take  charge  of  a  band 
of  them  and  lead  them  up  the  river.  Methodism  had  not  ex- 
tended northward  further  than  Westchester  County,  if  we 
except  the  Ashgrove  Society,  which  was  still  solitary  in  the 
wilderness  of  Washington  County,  for  Abbott's  labors  in 
Duchess  County  were  at  a  later  date.  Garrettson  was  un- 
easy about  his  new  commission,  being  an  utter  stranger  to  the 
country,  knowing  not  one  of  its  inhabitants,  and  unaware 
probably  of  the  obscure  Ashgrove  settlement.  His  anxiety 
led  him  to  "  much  prayer  "  for  divine  direction,  and  affected 
his  sleep.  He  had  in  his  dreams  a  sublime  vision.  "It 
seemed,"  he  says,  "  as  if  the  whole  country  up  the  North 
River,  as  far  as  Lake  Champlain,  east  and  west,  was  open  to 
my  view.  After  the  Conference  adjourned,  I  requested  the 
young  men  to  meet  me.  Light  seemed  so  reflected  on  my 
path  that  I  gave  them  directions  where  to  begin,  and  which 
way  to  form  their  circuits.  I  also  appointed  the  time  for 
each  quarterly  meeting,  requested  them  to  take  up  a  collec- 
tion in  every  place  where  they  preached,  and  told  them  that  I 
should  go  up  the  river  to  the  extreme  parts  of  the  work, 
visiting  the  towns  and  cities  on  the  way,  and,  on  my  return, 
visit  them  all,  and  hold  their  quarterly  meetings.  I  had  no 
doubt  but  that  the  Lord  would  do  wonders,  for  the  young  men 
were  pious,  zealous,  and  laborious."  These  young  men  were 
Peter  Moriarty,  Albert -Van  Nostrand,  Cornelius  Cook,  An- 
drew Harpending,  Darius  Dunham,  Samuel  J.  Talbot,  David 
Kendall,  Lemuel  Smith,  and  Samuel  Wigton.  Some  of  them 
became  historic  characters  in  the  Church.  They  formed  six 
circuits,  from  New  Rochelle  to  Lake  Champlain,  and  thus 
wras  the  denomination  founded  all  along  the  Hudson,  dotting, 
in  our  day,  its  beautiful  towns  and  villages,  on  both  banks, 


214  HISTORY   OF    THE 

with  Methodist  edifices— a  chapel  and  a  parsonage  in  almost 
every  hamlet. 

Garrettson,  having  sent  his  young  men  up  the  river,  soon 
after  set  out  himself.  lie  ascended  its  east  bank  through 
"New  Rochelle,  North  Castle,  Bedford,  Peekskill,  to  Rhine- 
beck,  preaching  in  all  the  towns  on  his  route.  At  Rhinebeck, 
destined  to  be  the  retreat  of  his  last  years,  he  was  entertained 
by  Thomas  Tillotson,  Esq.,  and  preached  repeatedly  in  a  barn 
to  constantly  increasing  congregations.  On  his  return  he 
found  that  his  itinerants  were  almost  everywhere  prevailing 
over  opposition,  and  forming  prosperous  Societies.  "Many 
houses,"  he  writes,  "  and  hands  and  hearts  were  opened,  and 
before  the  commencement  of  the  winter  we  had  several  large 
circuits  formed,  and  the  most  of  the.  preachers  were  comfort- 
ably situated ;  sinners  in  a  variety  of  places  began  to  inquire 
what  they  should  do  to  be  saved.  Satan  and  his  children 
were  much  alarmed,  and  began  on  every  hand  to  threaten  us. 
Some  said,  '  They  are  good  men  ; '  others  said,  '  Nslj,  they  are 
deceivers  of  the  people.'  A  stranger  from  Yermont,  on  his 
way  down  the  country,  informed  the  people  that  we  were 
spread  all  over  the  country  through  which  he  came.  This 
sudden  spread  of  our  preachers  caused  some  person  to  say,  c  I 
know  not  from  whence  they  all  come,  unless  from  the  clouds.' 
Others  said,  '  The  king  of  England  hath  sent  them  to  disaifect 
the  people,  and  they  did  not  doubt  but  they  would  bring  on 
another  war ; '  while  others  gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  we 
were  the  false  prophets  spoken  of  in  Scripture,  who  should 
come  in  the  last  days,  and  deceive,  if  it  were  possible,  the  very 
elect.  The  power  of  the  Lord  attended  the  word,  a  great  re- 
formation was  seen  among  the  people,  and  many  were  enabled 
to  speak  freely  and  feelingly  of  what  God  had  done  for  their 
souls.  My  custom  was  to  go  around  the  district  every  three 
months,  and  then  return  to  New  York,  where  I  commonly 
stayed  about  two  weeks.  In  going  once  around  I  usually 
traveled  about  a  thousand  miles,  and  preached  upward  of  a 
hundred  sermons. 

In  1789  he  enlarged  much  the  district,  extending  it  west- 
ward to  Schenectady.     He  penetrated  to  the  little  Society 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  215 

which  had  so  long  been  hidden  in  Ashgrove,  and  reanimated 
it  by  his  powerful  preaching.  They  had  recently  erected  their 
small  chapel.  John  Baker,  an  Irish  emigrant,  had  arrived 
among  them  about  two  years  before  Garrettson's  exploration 
of  the  upper  Hudson,  and  had  endeavored  to  procure  them  a 
preacher  from  the  Conference,  but  none  could  be  spared  till 
Garrettson  sent  to  them  one  of  his  own  band,  Lemuel  Smith, 
who  placed  the  Society  under  good  regulation,  and  made  it 
the  head-quarters  of  extensive  evangelical  labors  for  the  sur- 
rounding country.  "  This  Society,"  writes  Garrettson's  biog- 
rapher, "  may  be  considered  the  center  of  Methodism  in  this 
northern  part  of  the  country."  A  preacher  who  early  traveled 
the  circuit  writes  "  that  the  Ashgrove  Society  was  the  hive  of 
Methodism,  and  its  common  center  to  all  this  part  of  the  country 
for  many  years.  Ashton  was  a  great  friend  to  the  preachers. 
He  had  one  room  in  his  house  fitted  up  with  a  bed,  a  table, 
and  chairs,  for  the  special  accommodation  of  the  preachers. 
This  room  was  known  far  and  near  by  the  appellation  of  the 
'  Preachers'  Boom.'  Here  the  preachers  were  at  home  as  if 
the  dwelling  had  been  their  own.  In  his  last  will  he  gave  a 
building  lot  for  a  parsonage  and  a  burying-ground.  He  also 
gave  the  furniture  of  the  Preachers'  Eoom,  and  a  cow  for  the 
benefit  of  the  preachers  who  should  be  stationed  on  the  cir- 
cuit." Garrettson  found  not  a  few  of  the  houses  of  the  rich 
open  for  his  entertainment  on  his  long  route.  Gov.  Yan 
Courtlandt,  near  Croton  Eiver,  especially  became  his  ardent 
friend,  and  was  long  the  hospitable  protector  of  Methodist 
preachers. 

In  these  three  years'  labor  on  the  Hudson  he  opened  nearly 
all  its  course  for  Methodism.  He  gathered  into  its  Societies 
more  than  two  thousand  five  hundred  members.  In  1791  he 
reported  from  it  to  the  Conference  twelve  circuits.  His  dis- 
trict comprised  nearly  all  the  territory  now  included  in  the 
New  York  and  Troy  Conferences.  He  and  his  fellow-laborers 
not  only  traveled  and  preached  indefatigably,  but  suffered 
severe  privations,  and  sometimes  formidable  opposition.  In 
one  instance,  at  least,  his  life  was  periled.  "On  looking 
back."  he  writes,  "  I  see  the  hand  of  a  good  God  in  my  pres- 


216  HISTORY    OF   THE 

ervation   last   Thursday.      I   came  to   Mr.  weary   and 

thirsty.  I  asked  for  something  to  drink,  and  my  kind  friend's 
wife  went  to  fetch  it.  After  staying  about  fifteen  minutes, 
she  returned  with  some  small  beer.  As  she  advanced  toward 
me  I  was  as  sensibly  impressed  as  if  some  one  had  told  me, 
That  woman  is  not  too  good  to  put  poison  in  the  drink.  As  I 
was  putting  it  to  my  lips  the  same  impression  was  so  strong 
that  immediately  I  refused,  and  put  it  down  on  the  table  un- 
touched. Shortly  after  dinner  was  brought  on  the  table,  but 
I  could  eat  very  little.  The  next  morning  she  poisoned  her 
husband  and  two  others  with  the  meat  which  had  been  set  be- 
fore me.  I  was  informed  not  long  since  that  she  had  said  she 
would  put  an  end  to  the  Methodists.  A  skillful  physician  was 
at  hand,  or  in  all  probability  they  would  have  lost  their  lives. 
She  was  immediately  sent  to  the  jail  in  Albany." 

Methodism  not  only  reached  westward  as  far  as  Utica,  but 
south-westward  into  the  Valley  of  Wyoming,  which  is  recorded 
in  the  Minutes,  as  a  circuit,  as  early  as  1791.  It  entered  that 
beautiful  region,  however,  some  three  years  before  a  preacher 
was  sent  thither.  Its  real  founder  there  was  Anning  Owen,  a 
blacksmith,  a  brave  pioneer,  who  went  to  the  valley,  with  a 
company  of  adventurers,  soon  after  the  Revolutionary  "War 
broke  out.  Owen  was  one  of  the  few  courageous  men  who 
were  overthrown  by  the  superior  savage  force  of  Col.  John 
Butler,  and  barely  escaped  the  bloody  slaughter  which  followed. 
Returning  to  the  East,  his  providential  escape  led  him  to  de- 
vout reflection.  His  conscience  was  awakened,  and  he  was  not 
content  till  he  found  out  the  Methodists,  under  whose  influence 
he  became  a  renewed  man.  He  went  again  to  Wyoming,  and 
began  to  converse  with  his  neighbors  on  religion.  Full  of  en- 
thusiasm, and  as  tender-hearted  as  he  was  courageous,  he  has- 
tened from  house  to  house,  exhorting  with  tears,  reproving 
vice,  and  seeking  out  all  whose  consciences  were  restless  in  sin. 
The  historian  of  Methodism  in  that  region,  (Dr.  George  Peck) 
familiar  with  its  earliest  events,  says,  "  He  appointed  prayer- 
meetings  in  his  own  house.  The  people  were  melted  down 
under  his  prayers,  his  exhortations,  and  singing.  He  was  in- 
vited to  appoint  meetings  at  other  places  in  the  neighborhood, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUKCH.  217 

and  lie  listened  to  the  call.  A  revival  of  religion  broke  out  at 
Koss  Hill,  about  a  mile  from  his  residence,  and  just  across  the 
line  which  separates  the  townships  of  Kingston  and  Plymouth. 
Great  power  attended  the  simple,  earnest  efforts  of  the  black- 
smith, and  souls  were  converted  to  God.  He  studied  the  open- 
ings of  Providence,  and  tried  in  all  things  to  follow  the  divine 
light.  He  was  regarded  by  the  young  converts  as  their  spirit- 
ual father,  and  to  him  they  looked  for  advice  and  comfort." 
He  became,  practically,  their  pastor,  and  formed  among  them 
the  first  Methodist  class  of  the  valley  in  1788.  Benjamin  Car- 
penter, Esq.,  was  one  of  its  members.  With  him  Owen  had 
frequent  and  anxious  conversations  on  the  necessity  of  provid- 
ing preaching  for  the  little  flock.  "  They  agreed,"  says  our 
authority,  "to  settle  the  question  by  opening  the  Bible  and 
following  the  lead  of  the  first  passage  which  presented  itself. 
Squire  Carpenter  handed  the  Bible  to  Owen,  and,  upon  open- 
ing it,  the  first  sentence  his  eyes  fell  upon  was,  '  Woe  is  me  if 
I  preach  not  the  Gospel.'  Squire  Carpenter  said,  '  I  cannot.' 
Owen  said,  '  I  will.'  The  thing  with  him  was  settled,  and  he 
then  began  to  meditate  upon  the  measures  necessary  to  carry 
into  effect  his  resolution.  He  visited  some  point  at  the  East, 
where  Methodism  had  a  local  habitation  and  a  name  ;  and  on 
returning,  at  a  meeting  of  his  Society,  he  said,  CI  have  received 
a  regular  license  to  preach,  and  now  have  full  power  to  proceed 
in  the  work.'  Upon  an  examination  of  the  old  Minutes  it  will 
be  seen  that  Wyoming  was  not  recognized  until  three  years 
after  the  organization  of  the  first  class.  Upon  being  asked 
what  they  did  for  preaching  all  this  time,  one  of  the  first  mem- 
bers answered,  '  Father  Owen  hammered  away  for  us,  and  we 
did  very  well.  We  were  all  happy  in  God,  and  were  not  so 
very  particular.' " 

During  these  three  years  the  young  Society  kept  its  altar- 
fire  burning  without  the  aid  of  any  other  pastoral  ministrations 
than  those  of  the  faithful  blacksmith,  and  an  occasional  visit  of 
Garrettson's  preachers.  "They  set  up,"  says  one  of  them, 
"  prayer-meetings  and  class  meetings,  and  the  Lord  poured  out 
his  Spirit  upon  us.  Saints  rejoiced  and  praised  God,  and  sin- 
ners fell  on  the  floor  and  cried  for  mercy,  and  few  were  able  to 


218  HISTORY   OF    THE 

keep  their  seats.  These  meetings  were  held  on  Sundays,  Sunday 
evenings,  and  Thursday  nights.  This  disturbed  the  enemy's 
camp  and  raised  persecution  against  us,  and  our  names  were 
cast  out  as  evil ;  but  the  more  they  persecuted  us  the  more  the 
Lord  blessed  us.  The  first  minister  that  was  sent  among:  us 
was  Mr.  Mills."  Nathaniel  B.  Mills  traveled  the  Newburgh 
Circuit,  on  Garrettson's  District,  in  1789.  In  that  year  he 
reached  the  Wyoming  Valley — the  first  Methodist  itinerant 
who  entered  it.  In  1791  it  was  reported  as  a  circuit,  with 
James  Campbell  for  its  preacher.  In  the  same  year  the  North- 
umberland Circuit  is  recorded,  but  Methodism  did  not  reach 
the  valleys  below  till  two  years  after  its  entrance  into  Wyo- 
ming. Richard  Barrett  had  previously  explored  the  Northum- 
berland country,  and  now  traversed  it  with  Lewis  Browning, 
forming  classes  and  establishing  "  preaching  places  "  in  most 
of  its  settlements.  They  extended  their  labors  till  the  Method- 
ism of  Northumberland  met  and  blended  with  that  of  Penn's 
Valley,  where  we  have  already  witnessed  the  pioneer  labors  of 
Robert  Pennington.  Soon  after  the  General  Conference  of 
1792,  William  Colbert,  then  on  the  Northumberland  Circuit, 
carried  the  Methodist  standard  into  the  Tioga  country.  Thus 
had  the  denomination  commenced  its  march,  from  Garrettson's 
great  battle-ground  on  the  Hudson,  toward  what  was  then  the 
northwestern  frontier.  Aiming  Owen  was  the  "apostle  of 
Methodism  in  Wyoming  Valley,"  and  of  its  movements  thence 
to  the  regions  beyond.  He  joined  the  itinerant  ranks  a  few 
years  later,  and  labored  successfully  from  Albany 'to  the  Chesa- 
peake, from  the  Hudson  far  into  the  interior  settlements  of 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  He  retired  at  last  a  worn-out 
veteran.  His  motto  was,  "  Work  !  work  !  work !  this  world  is 
no  place  for  rest."  His  face  was  wrinkled,  his  head  bald,  and 
what  of  his  hair  remained  was  as  white  as  snow.  He  died  a 
blessed  death  the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  219 


CHAPTEE   XV. 

INTRODUCTION  OF  METHODISM  INTO  THE  WEST. 

We  have  already  had  several  anticipatory  glimpses  of  the  ad- 
vance of  Methodism  over  the  great  Apalachian  range.     As 
early  as  1783,  Jeremiah  Lambert  is  recorded  in  the  Minutes  as 
appointed  to  the  Holston  country— the  first  Methodist  preacher 
designated  to  the  ultramontane  part  of  the  continent.     But  in 
the  same  year  that  Lambert  is  supposed  to  have  penetrated  the 
Holston  region,  Francis  Poythress,  then  on  the  Alleghany  Cir- 
cuit, Pa.,  extended  his  travels  across  the  Alleghanies  to  the 
waters  of  the  little  Youghiogheny.     The  honor,  however,  of 
leading  the  march  of  Methodism  into  the  great  valley  of  the 
Mississippi  belongs  to  the  local  ministry.     Eobert  Wooster,  a 
local  preacher,  labored  in  the  Bedstone  country  about  the  year 
1781.*     A  venerable  Methodist  itinerant,  (Quinn,)  resident  in 
that  section  three  years  later,  and  who  witnessed  the  first 
Conference  held  there,  at  Uniontown,  has  left  us  a  brief  notice 
of  this  pioneer.      Speaking   of  John    Cooper   and   Solomon 
Breeze,  who  are  first  recorded  in  the  Minutes  for  Bedstone,  (in 
1784.)  he  says :  "  They  made  their  entrance  at  Uniontown,  in 
the   immediate  neighborhood   of  which  were  many  Church 
people,  and  a  few  Methodists.     But  they  had  been  preceded 
by  Kobert  Wooster,  a  local  preacher  of  piety  and  considerable 
talent.     He  had  preached  in  many  places,  both  in  Fayette  and 
"Washington  Counties.     Souls  had  been  awakened  and  con- 
verted to  God  by  his  preaching ;  but  I  am  not  sure  that  he 
formed  any  Societies.     He  came  to  one  of  my  appointments  in 
1799,  and  preached  for  me  a  pure  and  powerful  Gospel  sermon. 
At  that  time  his  hair  was  as  white  as  wool.     I  felt  it  a  privi- 

0  The  country  into  which  our  missionaries  entered,  and  which  they  occupied  under 
the  name  of  Redstone,  was  of  considerable  extent,  embracing  parts  of  the  states  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Virginia. —  Quinn's  Life,  p.  31. 


220  HISTORY    OF   THE 

lege  to  hear  the  first  Methodist  preacher,  perhaps,  whose  voice 
was  ever  heard  this  side  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  No 
doubt  he  is  safe  at  home  in  paradise.  He  was  an  Englishman, 
and  came  to  America  about  the  time  that  Mr.  Asbury  did. 
He  left  the  Redstone  country  early  in  the  present  century,] 
settled  in  Bracken  Co"unty,  Ky.,  and  removed  from  thence  tot 
Indiana,  on  White  River,  near  Connersville,  and  died  shout- 
ing." It  was  under  Wooster's  preaching  that  John  Jones, 
who  went  ten  miles  to  hear  him,  became  the  first  Methodist 
convert,  of  whom  we  have  any  record,  beyond  the  mountains. 
Cooper  and  Breeze  went  to  and  fro  in  their  new  and  extensive 
field,  reaping  the  harvest  of  Wooster's  labors.  "The  first 
Society,"  continues  Quinn,  "was  raised  near  Uniontown.  I 
next  found  their  steps  on  the  Youghiogheny,  near  the  Broad 
Ford  ; "  he  followed  them  down  that  river  and  discovered 
abiding  traces  of  their  labors  at  its  forks  in  Westmoreland 
County,  and  indeed  throughout  much  of  the  country. 

In  1785  Peter  Moriarty,  John  Fidler,  and  Wilson  Lee  were 
appointed  to  Redstone.  "Moriarty,"  says  Quinn,  "was  the 
first  man  I  ever  heard  preach ;  I  was  then  a  lad  in  my  eleventh 
year.  His  text  was  Hebrews  xii,  1.  Under  that  sermon  I 
concluded  myself  a  sinner.  These  men  were  greatly  beloved 
by  the  people,  and  very  useful  among  them ;  and  the  first  gen- 
eration of  Methodists  in  that  region  of  country  loved,  and 
thought,  and  talked  about  their  endeared  Cooper,  Breeze, 
Moriarty,  Lee,  etc.,  as  long  as  they  lived.  Blessed  preachers ! 
blessed  people !  they  are  now  in  paradise,  and  will  be  forever 
each  other's  joy  and  croWn.  At  the  close  of  1785  the  number 
of  members  from  this  field  was  five  hundred  and  twenty-three, 
so  that  it  appears  they  labored  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  The 
next  year,  William  Phoebus,  John  Wilson,  and  E.  Phelps 
being  appointed  to  Redstone,  enlarged  the  circuit,  passing  up 
the  several  branches  of  the  Monongahela  above  Morgantown, 
Ya.,  namely,  West  Fork,  Buckhannon,  Tygart's  Valley,  and 
Cheat  River,  as  far  as  settlements  had  been  made  by  the 
whites.  Some  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  further  up,  toward 
Clarksburgh,  a  door  was  opened,  and  a  good  Society  formed, 
at  the  house  of  J.  Shinn,  father  of  Rev.  Asa  Shinn.     This  man 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CIIUPwCII.  221 

was  of  Quaker  origin,  but  he  believed  and  was  baptized,  and 
his  household.  Forty  years  have  passed  away  since  I  preached 
and  met  the  class  in  this  good  man's  house.  At  that  time  Asa 
was  seeking  salvation  with  a  broken  spirit — a  broken  and  a 
contrite  heart ;  we  prayed  together  in  the  woods,  and  I  have 
loved  him  ever  since.  .  This  young  man  was  admitted  on  trial 
in  1801,  although  he  had  never  seen  a  meeting-house  or  a 
pulpit  before  he  left  his  father's  house  to  become  a  traveling 
preacher.  He  had  only  a  plain  English  education,  yet  in  1809 
we  find  him,  by  the  appointment  of  the  venerable  Asbury,  in 
the  Monumental  City,  as  colleague  of  another  backwoods 
youth,  R.  E.  Roberts,  afterward  Bishop  Roberts.  Many  souls 
were  born  of  God.  The  patriarch  in  the  membership  here 
was  old  Moses  Ellsworth,  of  German  descent.  He  was  great- 
grandfather to  our  Ellsworth  of  the  Ohio  Conference.  On  this 
circuit  lived  and  labored,  and  died  in  holy  triumph,  Joseph 
Chieuvrant,  a  Frenchman  by  birth.  He  was  converted  from 
Catholicism,  and  converted  to  God,  about  the  commencement 
of  the  Revolution,  and  had  permission  to  exhort.  He  was 
called  out  by  draft  as  a  militia-man  in  the  army ;  he  became 
acquainted  with  and  was  instrumental  in  the  conversion  of 
Lasley  Matthews,  an  Irish  Catholic.  These  men  were  mighty 
in  the  Scriptures;  they  preached  and  loved,  and  lived  holy. 
Chieuvrant  was  one  of  the  most  extensively  useful  local 
preachers  I  ever  knew."  In  1787*  the  number  in  Society  in 
Redstone  was  seven  hundred  and  fifty-six.  From  Uniontown, 
which  was  then  the  center  of  Methodism  in  the  head  of  the 
great  valley,  the  preachers  continued  to  enlarge  the  field  of 
labor  on  every  side,  and  to  every  place  whence  the  Macedonian 
cry  was  heard.  In  1788  the  Redstone  field  seems  to  have 
been  divided  into  four  circuits :  Clarksburg,  Ohio,  Pittsburg^ 
and  Redstone.  Seven  preachers  were  appointed  to  it.  "  I 
knew  them  all,"  says  Quinn ;  "  they  were  considered  pious 
men,  and  useful  in  their  day,  and  some  of  them  of  very  accept- 
able preaching  talents."  Jacob  Lurton  and  Lasley  Matthews 
stand  for  Redstone  proper,  and  it  was  for  them  to  enlarge  the 
field  'to  the  east,  and  carry  the  Gospel  to  the  sparse  settlements 
interspersed  through  the  mountains.     They  pushed  on  over  a*ll 


222  HISTORY    OF    THE 

the  neighboring  country.  Crossing  the  Laurel  Hill,  they  made 
their  way  into  the  head  of  Ligonier  Yalley.  Near  old  Fort 
Ligonier  was  raised  a  large  and  flourishing  Society.  Here  the 
father  of  the  memorable  Bishop  Robert  and  his  extensive 
family  joined  the  ranks  of  Methodism.  The  itinerants  rallied 
many  local  preachers  to  their  work,  but  a  few  noted  traveling 
preachers  were  also  raised  up,  and  before  the  century  closed 
all  the  Eedstone  country  was  pervaded  with  Methodism.  It 
was  the  frontier  field  from  which  the  denomination  took  its 
march  at  last  over  all  the  great  northwestern  territory. 

The  Holston  region  was  the  field  whence  it  marched  into 
the  middle- western  and  south-western  states.  The  "Holston 
country  "  was  about  the  head- waters  of  the  south  fork  of  the 
Holston  River,  which  extended  as  far  east  as  Wythe  and  the 
borders  of  Grayson  counties,  and  as  far  west  as  the  Three 
Islands.  It  was  in  these  rugged  but  -sublime  heights  that  the 
itinerants  began  their  movements  westward  into  Tennessee. 
At  the  Conference  which  appointed  Lambert  sixty  church- 
members  were  reported.  By  whom  had  they  been  gathered  ? 
and  by  whom  were  the  returns  made  ?  I  cannot  answer  these 
questions,  but  conjecture  that  as  early  as  1777,  when  King, 
Dickins,  and  Cole  labored  in  North  Carolina,  if  not  indeed  in 
the  preceding  year,  when  Poythress,  Dromgoole,  and  Tatum 
preached  there,  their  travels  were  extended  into  these  moun- 
tains. Henry  Willis,  whom  we  have  lately  left  in  Charleston 
S.  C,  traversed  these  mountains  in  1784,  a  man  of  whom 
Thomas  Ware  says  that  "  he  stood  pre-eminent.  He  was  a 
manly  genius,  and  very  intelligent.  He  well  understood 
theology,  and  was  a  most  excellent  minister.  I  followed  him 
to  the  south  as  far  as  North  Carolina,  to  the  east  as  far  as 
New  York,  and  to  the  west  as  far  as  Holston,  and  found  his 
name  dear  to  many  of  the  excellent  of  the  earth."  The  con- 
temporary records  of  Methodism  incessantly  mention  this  able 
and  useful  itinerant. 

Richard  Swift  and  Michael  Gilbert,  Mark  Moore  and  Mark 
Whitaker,  John  Tunnell,  Jeremiah  Mastin,  Nathaniel  Moore, 
Edward  Morris,  Joseph  Doddridge,  Philip  Bruce,  Thomas 
"Vyare,  John  M'Gee,  William  Burke,  and   others,   followed, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  223 

pressing  further  westward,  before  the  close  of  our  present 
period.  An  evangelist  of  those  times,  who  well  knew  the 
country  and  its  adventurous  preachers,  informs  us  that  they 
"  were  under  the  care  of  an  elder  whose  district  included  Salis- 
bury and  Yadkin  Circuits  in  North  Carolina,  and  Holston  in 
the  west.  In  1787  the  Holston  Circuit  was  divided  into  two 
circuits,  Holston  and  Nolachucky,  and  Philip  Bruce  was  ap- 
pointed elder.  Two  new  preachers,  Jeremiah  Mastin  and 
Thomas  Ware,  were  sent  in  1788,  when  two  new  circuits  were 
made  out  of  the  old  ones:  the  Holston  Circuit,  embracing  all 
the  settlements  on  the  East  and  North  Forks  of  Holston,  and 
all  the  settlements  on  the  Clinch  River,  including  the  counties 
of  Washington  and  Eussell  in  Virginia,  and  Blount  County  in 
'the  Western  territory;'  and  French  Broad,  including  all  the 
settlements  west  and  south  of  the  main  Holston  to  the  front- 
iers bordering  on  the  Cherokee  nation."  The  same  authority, 
Burke,  speaking  of  Swift  and  Gilbert,  who  traveled  among 
these  mountains  in  1785,  says  that  the  country  at  this  time 
was  new  and  thinly  settled ;  that  they  met  with  many  priva- 
tions and  sufferings,  and  made  but  little  progress ;  that  the 
most  of  the  region  through  which  they  traveled  was  very 
mountainous  and  rough,  and  the  greater  part  a  frontier  ex- 
posed to  Indian  depredations.  They  were  followed  by  Mark 
Whitaker  and  Mark  Moore,  "  who  were  zealous,  plain,  old- 
fashioned  Methodist  preachers,"  and  were  instrumental  in  rais- 
ing up  many  Societies.  Mark  Whitaker  in  particular  was  a 
strong  man.  He  laid  a  good  foundation  for  his  successors, 
and  was  followed  by  Jeremiah  Mastin,  Thomas  Ware,  and 
others.  These  men  planted  the  standard  of  the  cross  in  the 
frontier  settlements  of  the  French  Broad,  and  numerous  So- 
cieties were  raised  up,  so  that  in  1791  they  numbered  upward 
of  one  thousand  members.  About  this  time  William  Burke 
arrived  in  the  Holston  country ;  he  says  the  pioneers  of  Meth- 
odism in  that  part  of  Western  Virginia  and  the  Western  ter- 
ritory suffered  many  privations,  and  underwent  much  toil  and 
labor,  preaching  in  forts  and  cabins,  sleeping  on  straw,  bear 
and  buffalo  skins,  living  on  bear  meat,  venison,  and  wild  tur- 
keys, traveling  over  mountains  and  through  solitary  valleys, 


224  HISTORY   OF   THE 

and  sometimes  lying  on  the  cold  ground;  receiving  but  a 
scanty  support,  "  barely  enough  to  keep  soul  and  body  to- 
gether, with  coarse  home-made  apparel ;  "  but  "  the  best  of  all 
was,  their  labors  were  owned  and  blessed  of  God,  and  they 
were  like  a  band  of  brothers,  having  one  purpose  and  end  in 
view — the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  immortal  souls. 
When  the  preachers  met  from  their  different  and  distant 
fields  of  labor  they  had  a  feast  of  love  and  friendship ;  and 
when  they  parted,  they  wept  and  embraced  each  other  as 
brothers  beloved.  Such  was  the  spirit  of  primitive  Methodist 
preachers." 

Ware's  departure,  in  1787,  to  this  distant  section,  at  the 
call  of  his  friend  Tunnell,  has  already  been  recorded.  He 
found,  he  says,  the  population  of  his  circuit  spread  over  a 
region  equal  in  extent  to  East  Jersey,  almost  wholly  destitute 
of  the  Gospel.  "Many  were  refugees  from  justice.  Some 
there  were  who  had  borrowed  money,  or  were  otherwise  in 
debt,  and  had  left  their  creditors  and  securities  to  do  the  best 
they  could ;  some  had  been  guilty  of  heinous  or  scandalous 
crimes,  and  had  fled  from  justice ;  others  had  left  their  wives, 
and  were  living  with  other  women.  Among  these  there  were 
a  few  who  had  made  a  profession  of  religion,  and  two  in  par- 
ticular who  had  been  ministers  of  the  Gospel  and  who  opposed 
the  Methodists  violently.  But,  notwithstanding  the  opposi- 
tion we  had  to  contend  with  from  these  and  other  causes,  God 
prospered  us  in  our  work.  Societies  were  formed,  and  a  num- 
ber of  log-chapels  erected^  and  on  the  circuit  three  hundred 
members  were  received  this  year."  He  was  attacked  by  mobs, 
and  barely  escaped  with  his  life.  Sick  and  weary;  pursuing 
his  route  by  marks  on  the  trees,  he  was  lost  in  the  forest, 
wandering  bewildered  most  of  the  night.  He  sometimes  slept 
on  the  ground  under  the  trees.  His  trials  were  as  severe  as 
perhaps  were  ever  endured  by  an  American  pioneer  preacher. 

The  first  Methodist  Conference  beyond  the  Alleghanies  is 
usually  supposed  to  have  been  held  at  Uniontown,  Pa.,  on  the 
22d  of  July,  1788 ;  but  a  session  was  held,  as  we  have  seen, 
at  Half  Acres,  Tenn.,  as  early  as  the  second  week  of  the  pre- 
vious May.     We  have   followed  Asbury  in  his  adventurous 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  225 

journey  thither.  Ware  gives  some  further  information  of  the 
memorable  occasion.  "  As  the  road  by  which  Bishop  Asbury 
was  to  come  was,"  hd'says,  "infested  with  hostile  savages,  so 
tha,t  it  could  not  be  traveled  except  by  considerable  companies, 
he  was  detained  for  a  week  after  the  time  appointed  to  com- 
mence it.  But  we  were  not  idle ;  and  the  Lord  gave  us  many 
souls  in  the  place  where  we  were  assembled,  among  whom 
were  General  Russell  and  lady,  the  latter  a  sister  of  the  illus- 
trious Patrick  Henry.  I  mention  these  particularly,  because 
they  were  the  iirst-fruits  of  our  labors  at  this  Conference.  On 
the  Sabbath  we  had  a  crowded  audience,  and  Tunnell  preached 
an  excellent  sermon,  which  produced  great  effect.  His  dis- 
course was  followed  by  a  number  of  powerful  exhortations. 
When  the  meeting  closed,  Mrs.  Russell  came  to  me  and  said : 
' 1  thought  I  was  a  Christian  ;  but,  sir,  I  am  not  a  Christian — 
I  am  the  veriest  sinner  upon  earth.  I  want  you  and  Mr. 
Mastin  to  come  with  Mr.  Tunnell  to  our  house  and  pray  for 
us,  and  tell  us  what  we  must  do  to  be  saved.'  So  we  went, 
and  spent  much  of  the  afternoon  in  prayer,  especially  for  Mrs. 
Russell.  But  she  did  not  obtain  comfort.  Being  much  eX- 
hausted,  the  preachers  retired  to  a  pleasant  grove,  near  at 
hand,  to  spend  a  short  time.  On  returning  to  the  house  we 
found  Mrs.  Russell  praising  the  Lord,  and  the  general  walking 
the  floor  and  weeping  bitterly.  At  length  he  sat  down,  quite 
exhausted.  This  scene  was  in  a  high  degree  interesting  to  us. 
To  see  the  old  soldier  and  statesman,  the  proud  opposer  of 
godliness,  trembling,  and  earnestly  inquiring  what  he  must  do 
to  be  saved,  was  an  affecting  sight.  But  the  work  ended  not 
here.  The  conversion  of  Mrs.  Russell,  whose  zeal,  good  sense, 
and  amiableness  of  character  were  proverbial,  together  with 
the  penitential  grief  so  conspicuous  in  the  general,  made  a 
deep  impression  on  the  minds  of  many,  and  numbers  were 
brought  in  before  the  Conference  closed.  The  general  rested 
not  until  he  knew  his  adoption ;  and  he  continued  a  faithful 
and  an  official  member  of  the  Church,  constantly  adorning 
the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  unto  the  end  of  his  life."  No 
name  is  recorded,  in  the  biographies  of  the  pioneer  itinerants 
among  these  mountains,  with  more  grateful    affection  than 

15 


226  HISTORY    OF    THE 

that  of  General  Kussell.     His  house  was  long  their  asylum, 
and  Asbury  always  entered  it  with  delight. 

The  appointments  of  this  Conference  for  the  Holston  coun- 
try were  Edward  Morris,  Elder ;  Holston,  Jeremiah  Mastin, 
Joseph  Doddridge ;  French  Broad,  Daniel  Asbury ;  East  New 
River,  Thomas  Ware,  Jesse  Richardson.  Ware  says  that  he 
and  his  colleague  were  instructed  "to  enlarge  our  borders 
from  a  two  to  a  four  weeks'  circuit.  This  we  did  with  great 
ease.  There  was  not  within  the  bounds  of  our  circuit  a  relig- 
ious meeting  except  those  held  by  us.  The  hearts  and  houses 
of  the  people  were  open  to  receive  us,  so  that  we  hesitated  not 
to  call  at  any  dwelling  which  might  first  come  in  our  way 
when  we  wanted  refreshment."  A  succession  of  energetic 
men  were  rapidly  dispatched  to  this  new  field,  and  thence  to 
the  further  West.  William  Burke,  a  Virginian,  was  one  of 
the  mightiest  among  them.  "  In  1789,"  he  says,  "  John  Tun- 
nell  was  presiding  elder,  and  Bottetourt  Circuit  added.  In 
1790  two  districts  were  formed;  one  was  composed  of  West 
New  River,  Russell,  Holston,  and  Green  Circuits — Charles 
Hardy,  presiding  elder.  This  year  John  M'Gee  and  John 
West  were  on  Green  Circuit.  Bottetourt,  Greenbrier,  and 
Kanawha  Circuits  made  the  other  district — Jeremiah  Able, 
presiding  elder.  This  year  the  Little  Kanawha  Circuit  was 
formed,  and  Jacob  Lurton  ^as  the  preacher  in  charge.  He 
was  an  original  genius,  and  a  useful  preacher.  In  1791  Mark 
Whitaker  was  presiding  elder,  and  Charles  Hardy  and  John 
West  were  on  the  West  New  River  Circuit.  Mr.  Asbury,  on 
his  return  from  the  Kentucky  Conference,  met  the  Conference 
at  Huffaker's,  Rich  Valley  of  Holston,  on  the  15th  of  April, 
1792.  Hope  Hull,  who  had  accompanied  him  from  Georgia, 
and  Wilson  Lee,  who  was  now  returning  from  Kentucky  to 
the  East,  were  with  him.  Both  preached  at  this  Conference 
with  great  success.  General  William  Russell,  who  had  mar- 
ried the  widow  of  General  Campbell,  and  sister  of  Patrick 
Henry,  and  had  embraced  religion,  together  with  his  amiable 
lady,  and  who  lived  at  the  salt-works,  on  the  North  Fork  of 
Holston,  attended  this  session,  and  accommodated  a  number 
of  the   preachers.      We   had  a  good  time  for  those   days." 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  227 

Burke  had  the  usual  perils  and  hardships  of  his  ministerial 
brethren  in  these  mountains,  but  saw  many  of  the  worst  op- 
posers  reformed,  and  Churches  founded  in  many  settlements. 
"  On  Nolachucky  there  was,"  he  says,  "  a  rich  and  thickly- 
settled  community,  which  afterward  bore  the  name  of  Ernest's 
Neighborhood.  It  had  but  one  Methodist,  the  wife  of  Felix 
Ernest,  who  attended  preaching  when  she  could,  being  about 
five  or  six  miles  distant  from  the  appointment.  Ernest  was 
a  very  wicked  man,  and  a  drunkard.  Being  one  day  at  a  dis- 
tillery, the  Spirit  of  God  arrested  him.  He  immediately  went 
home,  and  inquired  of  his  wife  if  she  knew  of  any  Methodist 
meeting  anywhere  on  that  day.  It  happened  to  be  the  day 
that  Brooks  preached  in  an  adjoining  neighborhood,  and  Er- 
nest immediately  put  off  for  the  meeting.  He  arrived  there 
after  it  had  begun,  and  stood  in  the  door,  with  his  shirt-collar 
open,  his  face  red,  and  the  tears  streaming  down  his  cheeks. 
He  invited  Brooks  to  preach  in  his  neighborhood.  He  con- 
sented, and  in  two  weeks  Brooks  came  round  and  found  a  good 
congregation.  '  The  word  of  God,'  he  says,  '  had  free  course, 
and  was  glorified.'  The  whole  family  of  the  Ernests  was 
brought  into  the  Church,  with  many  others,  and  by  the  first 
of  September  we  had  a  large  Society  formed.  I  left  the  cir- 
cuit in  September,  but  the  work  continued."  In  a  short  time 
they  built  "Ernest's  Meeting-House,"  and  Ernest  became  a 
local  preacher. 

Meanwhile  the  itinerant  heralds  had  entered  Kentucky.  It 
was  only  about  ten  years  before  the  organization  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  that  Colonel  Daniel  Boone  pene- 
trated this  wilderness,  and  that  the  first  emigrant  families 
settled  there.  The  luxuriant  country  invited  immigration, 
and  adventurers  poured  into  its  beautiful  valleys.  As  early  as 
1784  Methodist  local  preachers  began  to  enter  it,  both  as 
settlers  and  as  pioneers  of  their  faith.  In  this  year  one  of 
them,  by  the  name  of  Tucker,  while  descending  the  Ohio  in  a 
boat  with  a  number  of  his  kindred,  men,  women,  and  children, 
was  fired  upon  by  Indians  ;  a  battle  ensued  ;  the  preacher  was 
mortally  wounded;  but,  falling  upon  his  knees,  prayed  and 
fought  till,  by  his  self-possession  and  courage,  the  boat  was 


228  HISTORY   OF   THE 

rescued.  He  then  immediately  expired,  "  shouting  the  praise 
of  the  Lord."  Not  long  after  the  Revolutionary  War,  Francis 
Clark,  a  local  preacher  from  Virginia,  settled  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Danville,  Mercer  County,  and  was  among  the  first 
Methodists  that  emigrated  to  the  country.  He  was  a  man  of 
sound  judgment,  and  well  instructed  in  the  doctrines  of 
Methodism.  As  a  preacher  he  was  successful  in  forming 
Societies,  and  lived  many  years  to  rejoice  in  the  cause  that  he 
had  been  the  instrument,  under  God,  of  commencing  in  the 
wilderness.  He  died  at  his  own  domicile,  in  the  fall  of  1799, 
in  great  peace.  In  1786  the  itinerants  reached  Kentucky. 
James  Haw  and  Benjamin  Ogden  were  the  first  that  appeared 
there.  In  the  years  1787,  1788,  and  1789,  "  the  holy  flame 
spread  all  over  Kentucky  and  Cumberland.  Haw,  Poythress, 
Wilson  Lee,  and  Williamson  were  the  chief  instruments  in 
carrying  on  this  great  work."  Haw  was  a  man  of  ardent 
soul.  A  letter  written  by  him  to  Asbury,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  year  1789,  says :  "  Good  news  from  Zion;  the  work  of  God 
is  going  on  rapidly  in  this  new  world ;  a  glorious  victory  the 
Son  of  God  has  gained,  and  he  is  still  going  on  conquering 
and  to  conquer.  Heaven  rejoices  daily  over  sinners  that 
repent.  Indeed,  the  wilderness  and  solitary  places  are  glad, 
and  the  desert  rejoices  and  blossoms  as  the  rose,  and,  I  trust, 
will  soon  become  beautiful  as  Tirza  and  comely  as  Jerusalem. 
What  shall  I  more  say  %  Time  would  fail  to  tell  you  all  the 
Lord's  doings  among  us.     It  is  marvelous  in  our  eyes." 

In  1787  Wilson  Lee  and  Thomas  Williamson  joined  these 
standard  bearers.  In  1788  they  had  three  circuits,  Lexington, 
Danville,  and  Cumberland,  and  reported  539  members.  In 
1792  they  had  four  circuits,  their  membership  had  risen  to 
2,235,  and  there  were  eleven  itinerants.  "  The  reader,"  says 
Burke,  "  may  have  some  kind  of  an  idea  what  kind  of  pecuni- 
ary support  they  had :  traveling  and  preaching,  night  and 
day,  in  weariness  and  want;  many  days  without  the  neces- 
saries of  life,  and  always  without  those  comforts  that  are 
now  enjoyed  by  traveling  preachers ;  with  worn  and  tattered 
garments,  but  happy,  and  united  like  a  band  of  brothers.  The 
Quarterly  Meetings  and  Annual  Conferences  were  high  times. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUKCH.  229 

When  the  pilgrims  came  they  never  met  without  embracing 
each  other,  and  never  parted  without  weeping.  Those  were 
days  that  tried  men's  souls." 

The  itinerants  devoted  themselves  not  only  to  labor  but  to 
death.  At  a  Conference  it  appeared  that  Cumberland  must 
be  left  without  a  preacher.  Henry  Burchet  said,  "  Here  am  I, 
send  me."  His  friends  remonstrated  against  his  going;  the 
distance  was  great;  there  was  considerable  danger  from  In- 
dians; the  small-pox  prevailed  in  the  country,  and  he  was 
sick ;  but  after  asking  the  consent  of  Bishop  Asbury  and  the 
Conference,  he  said,  "  If  I  perish,  who  can  doubt  of  my  eternal 
rest?"  He  labored  with  great  success  in  Cumberland,  and 
though  much  afflicted,  he  held  on  his  way  till  late  in  the  fall, 
when  he  was  obliged  to  stop  traveling.  He  was  a  welcome 
guest  at  the  house  of  a  rich  planter,  two  miles  west  of  Nash- 
ville, by  the  name  of  James  Hockett,  where  he  remained,  en- 
joying the  hospitality  of  the  family  and  the  visits  of  his 
numerous  friends,  till  the  month  of  February,  1794,  when  he 
died  in  hope  of  eternal  blessedness.  He  was  buried  on  the  farm ; 
but  it  has  passed  to  other  owners,  and  his  grave  is  obliterated. 

Asbury  visited  these  frontier  evangelists  almost  yearly  for 
the  remainder  of  his  life,  often  convoyed  by  armed  men,  and 
suffering  terribly.  He  records  that  he  was  strangely  outdone 
for  want  of  sleep,  having  been  greatly  deprived  of  it  through 
the  wilderness ;  "  which  is  like  being  at  sea  in  some  respects, 
and  in  others  worse.  Our  way  is  over  mountains,  steep  hills, 
deep  rivers,  and  muddy  creeks ;  a  thick  growth  of  reeds  for 
miles  together,  and  no  inhabitants  but  wild  beasts  and  savage 
men.  Sometimes,  before  I  am  aware,  my  ideas  would  be 
leading  me  to  be  looking  out  ahead  for  a  fence,  and  I  would, 
without  reflection,  try  to  recollect  the  houses  we  should  have 
lodged  at  in  the  wilderness.  I  saw  the  graves  of  the  slain. 
These  are  some  of  the  melancholy  accidents  to  which  the 
country  is  subject  for  the  present.  As  to  the  land,  it 
is  the  richest  body  of  fertile  soil  I  have  ever  beheld."  The 
local  traces  of  the  great  Methodist  bishop  in  these  West- 
ern wilds  are  still  sacred  places  of  pilgrimage  to  Method- 
ists.     "I   confess,"    says    a   traveler,    visiting    one    of   them 


230  HISTORY    OF    THE 

in  the  Holston  Mountains,  "  to  a  peculiar  train  of  emotions  as 
I  walked  amid  the  scenes  once  familiar  to  the  apostle  of 
American  Methodism.  One  place  is  a  quiet  East  Tennessee 
valley,  a  few  miles  north  of  the  Paint  Rock,  on  the  French 
Broad  River.  Along  the  tortuous  course  of  this  headlong 
mountain-born  stream  the  itinerant  bishop  used  to  travel,  as 
you  will  see  by  reference  to  his  Journal.  Before  he  would 
ascend  this  stream  from  the  valley  of  East  Tennessee  to  the 
Carolinas  he  would  here  pause,  as  if  to  summon  his  energies 
for  the  difficult  task;  and  then  again,  on  his  return  through 
these  lofty  mountains,  the  most  elevated  in  the  Union  east  of 
the  Rocky  Range,  he  would  pause  again  at  this  wayside  home 
as  if  to  rest  from  the  fatigue  of  the  way.  Here  he  tarried  and 
preached  and  wrote  and  refreshed  himself,  and  thanked  God 
and  took  courage.  The  house  is  a  nondescript  in  modern 
architecture,  and  is  venerable  for  its  age.  It  was  built  in 
troublous  times  with  the  Indians,  and  in  what  were  then  the 
extreme  borders  of  civilization.  The  Cherokees,  in  some 
respects  the  greatest  tribe  of  aborigines,  had  their  seat  o'f  em- 
pire but  a  few  leagues  distant,  and  at  that  time  claimed  all  the 
country  along  these  valleys  as  theirs.  Hence  the  building  was 
wisely  put  up  of  massive  logs  from  the  great  forest,  well 
hewn  and  strongly  fitted  together ;  the  chimneys  large,  and 
built  of  limestone  rocks  obtained  near  by.  They  are  two  in 
number,  and  are  placed  outside  the  ends  of  the  house.  An 
old-fashioned  porch  runs  the  whole  length  of  the  building. 
There  appears  to  have  been  originally  no  windows  in  the 
lower  story  for  Indian  eyes  or  bullets.  The  upper  story  is 
attic,  very  low.  There  are  two  rooms  above  corresponding 
with '  the  two  below,  and  are  furnished  with  small  fireplaces, 
the  flues  communicating  with  the  chimneys.  Each  of  these 
upper  rooms  is  well  ceiled,  the  ceiling  overhead  being  fitted  to 
the  rafters.  They  are  furnished  with  eight,  though  small, 
windows  in  the  gable,  there  being  one  on  each  side  of  the 
chimneys,  composed  of  eight  panes.  The  south  room  in  the 
attic  still  goes  by  the  name  of  l  The  Bishop's  Room.'  Here 
were  his  candlestick  and  table  and  bed,  etc.  The  bed  occu- 
pied a  corner,  and  when  the  wayfaring  bishop  rested  his  weary 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  231 

head  upon  his  pillow  it  was  in  close  proximity  to  the  roof. 
Here,  I  doubt  not,  he  slept  soundly  to  the  music  of  the  falling 
rain.  Here  he  slept  and  roamed  in  dreams  over  all  his  wide- 
extended  work,  perchance  back  to  his  European  home  and 
friends,  and  then  waked  to  the  stern  realities  of  the  Western 
wilderness.  Hard  by  the  door  of  the  bishop's  wayside  home 
springs  from  the  earth  a  mammoth  fountain  of  the  purest 
water,  abundant  enough  to  supply  a  great  city.  It  is  environed 
with  huge  primitive  limestone  rocks,  in  the  crevices  of  which 
ancient  elms  rear  aloft  their  great  forms,  and  spread  wide  their 
giant  arms  that  have  battled  with  the  storms  of  many  cen- 
turies. On  these  rocks,  beneath  these  great  trees,  once  sat 
the  man  of  God,  thankful  for  this  cooling  fountain,  as  he  rested 
from  the  toils  of  his  continent-circuit.  To  him  such  a  retreat 
must  have  been  exceedingly  grateful.  The  host  and  hostess 
of  As'bury  have  long  since  followed  him  to  the  region  of  the 
dead.  The  old  homestead  descended  to  a  son,  who  retains 
a  lively  memory  of  the  good  old  bishop.  But  the  wayside 
home  of  Asbury,  like  the  tombs  of  the  prophets  and  the 
sepulcher  of  the  Saviour,  has  passed  into  the  hands  of  un- 
believers and  enemies." 

Thus  had  Methodism  broken  through  the  mountain  barriers 
of  the  West.  Soon  it  was  extending  energetically  over  the 
great  Yalley  of  the  Mississippi.  By  the  close  of  this  period 
there  were  nearly  five  thousand  seven  hundred  recognized 
Methodists,  and  thirty-five  traveling  preachers,  beyond  the 
Alleghanies.  It  will  not  be  many  years  before  we  shall  see 
organized  the  great  "  old  Western  Conference,"  reaching  from 
the  Lakes  to  Natchez,  with  its  giant  itinerants,  M'Kendree 
Roberts,  Scott,  Kobler,  Lakin,  Sale,  Parker,  Blackman,  Beau- 
champ,  Collins,  Young,  Strange,  Raper,  Cartwright,  Winans, 
Finley,  Elliott,  and  hosts  of  others — the  men  who  chiefly  laid 
the  moral  foundations  of  the  mighty  states  of  the  Mississippi 
Yalley. 


232  HISTORY    OF    THE 


CHAPTEK  XVI. 

INTRODUCTION    OF    METHODISM    INTO    THE    NORTH    AMERICAN 
BRITISH   PROVINCES. 

'The  presence  of  William  Black  at  the  Christmas  Conference, 
with  his  appeal  for  preachers  for  JSTova  Scotia,  inspired  the 
enthusiastic  soul  of  Coke.  He  not  only  set  apart  Garrettson 
and  Cromwell  for  the  distant  field,  and  begged  and  gave  funds 
for  their  support,  but  returned  to  England  to  procure  addi- 
tional men  and  money  for  it.  The  storms  of  the  ocean  drove 
him  with  his  ministerial  recruits  from  near  the  shores  of  Nova 
Scotia  to  the  British  Antilles,  and  thus  not  only  providentially 
led  to  the  founding  of  the  missions  of  the  latter,  but  did  not 
defeat  his  plans  for  the  former.  Garrettson  and  Cromwell 
embarked  for  Halifax  about  the  middle  of  February,  1785. 
They  had  a  boisterous  passage  of  nearly  two  weeks.  "  I 
never,"  wrote  Garrettson,  "  saw  so  dismal  a  time  before ;  but 
through  the  amazing  goodness  of  God  we  were  brought  safely 
to  Halifax,  and  were  very  kindly  received  by  a  Mr.  Marching- 
ton,  a  true  friend  to  the  Gospel."  Marchington  hired  a  house 
for  public  worship,  and  Garrettson  immediately  began  his 
labors.  In  a  few  days  he  formed  the  first  Methodist  Society 
of  Halifax,  comprising  seven  or  eight  members.  Cromwell 
set  out  for  Shelburn,  and  Garrettson  projected  "  a  tour  through 
the  country."  Before  departing  he  wrote  to  Coke,  "  I  am  fully 
persuaded  that  our  voyage  to  this  part  of  the  world  was  of 
God ;  the  very  time  when  preachers  of  our  order  ought  to 
have  come." 

Garrettson  was  the  founder  of  Methodism  in  Halifax,  but  not 
an  the  eastern  British  provinces.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that 
it  dates  there  from  the  year  1765,  one  year  earlier  than  its 
epoch  in  the  United  States.*     In  that  year  John  Coughland,  a 

°  The  true  epoch  of  Methodism  in  the  western  hemisphere  is  1760,  when  Gil- 
bert formed  the  first  Society  in  Antigua. 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  233 

Wesleyan  preacher,  was,  at  the  instance  of  "Wesley  and  the 
Countess  of  Huntingdon,  sent  to  Newfoundland  by  the  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  Christian  Knowledge.  During  seven 
years  he  pursued  his  solitary  labors,  suffering  much  of  the  time 
severe  persecutions.  His  health  at  last  failed,  and  he  returned 
to  England.  John  M'Geary  was  subsequently  sent  by  Wesley 
to  occupy  the  vacant  post.  He  found  that  the  good  work  be- 
gun by  Coughland  had  dwindled  after  his  departure,  and  was 
nearly  extinct.  He  labored  in  Carbonear,  but  with  such 
slight  results  that  he  was  about  to  abandon  the  field  in  despair, 
when,  in  1791,  William  Black  arrived  from  Nova  Scotia.  As 
the  chief,  though  not  the  original,  founder  of  Methodism  in 
the  eastern  British  provinces,  Black's  memory  will  forever  be 
precious  to  the  Church  in  those  borean  regions.  In  1780  he 
began  to  exhort  in  public  at  Fort  Lawrence,  and  with  such 
success  that  two  hundred  persons  were  gathered  into  classes, 
one  hundred  and  thirty  of  whom  professed  to  have  "  passed 
from  death  unto  life."  He  had,  in  fine,  become  a  preacher, 
and  before  long  was  "itinerating,"  proclaiming  the  faith  at 
Amherst,  Fort  Lawrence,  Cornwallis,  Horton,  Falmouth, 
Windsor,  and  Halifax.  Methodism  was  thus  permanently 
founded  in  Nova  Scotia.  In  1784  his  Societies  were  too  numer- 
ous for  him  to  supply  them  alone.  He  went  to  the  United 
States  to  consult  Coke,  as  we  have  seen,  and  procured  the  ap- 
pointment of  Garrettson  and  Cromwell.  In  1786  his  name 
occurs  for  the  first  time  in  Wesley's  Minutes,  though  he  had 
devoted  himself  exclusively  to  ministerial  labors  for  five  years, 
and  his  circuit  embraced  the  whole  province,  extended  to  New- 
foundland, and  at  last  took  in  New  Brunswick.  On  the  arrival 
of  the  missionaries  from  the  United  States  he  did  not  relax 
his  labors,  but  extended  them  further  and  further,  till  he 
reached  M'Geary,  who  was  desponding  at  Carbonear,  and 
about  to  leave  the  field.  "  I  have  been  weeping  before  the 
Lord,"  exclaimed  M'Geary  to  him,  "  over  my  lonely  situation 
and  the  darkness  of  the  people,  and  your  coming  is  like  life 
from  the  dead."  Black  immediately  began  to  preach  in  the 
town  ;  an  extraordinary  revival  ensued,  and  the  mission  was 
retrieved.      He  organized  Methodism  in  the  province,  secured 


234:  HISTORY    OF   THE 

its  church  property,  encouraged  and  fortified  its  classes,  and 
obtained  new  laborers  from  Wesley.  The  people  of  New- 
foundland had  received  him  as  a  messenger  from  God,  and 
dismissed  him,  at  his  return  to  Nova  Scotia,  with  benedictions 
and  tears.  This  apostle  of  Methodism  in  the  eastern  British 
provinces  lived  to  see  it  generally  and  firmly  established  in 
those  regions.  He  died  in  1834,  at  the  advanced  age  of  seven- 
ty-four years,  exclaiming,  "  God  bless  you  !  all  is  well !  "  and 
leaving  in  Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  and  Newfoundland 
three  Methodist  districts,  forty-four  circuits,  about  fifty  itiner- 
ant and  many  local  preachers,  with  more  than  six  thousand 
members. 

John  Mann,  one  of  the  earliest  converts  of  Boardman  in 
New  York,  and  for  some  time  during  the  Kevolutionary  War 
the  pastor  of  the  John-street  Church,  had  gone  to  Nova  Scotia, 
and  was  now  an  energetic  colaborer  there  with  Black  and  Gar- 
ret tson.  In  his  semi-centennial  sermon  the  latter  says  that  he 
traversed  the  mountains  and  valleys,  frequently  on  foot,  with 
his  knapsack  on  his  back,  guided  by  Indian  paths  in  the  wilder- 
ness, when  it  was  not  expedient  to  take  a  horse  ;  that  he  had 
often  to  wade  through  morasses  half  leg  deep  in  mud  and 
water ;  frequently  satisfying  his  hunger  with  a  piece  of  bread 
and  pork  from  his  knapsack,  quenching  his  thirst  from  a  brook, 
and  resting  his  weary  limbs  on  the  leaves  of  the  trees.  But 
"  thanks  be  to  God  !  "  he  exclaims,  "  he  compensated  me  for 
all  my  toil,  for  many  precious  souls  were  awakened  and  con- 
verted." He  continued  in  Nova  Scotia  till  the  spring  of 
1787,  when  he  returned  to  the  United  States,  leaving  about 
seven  hundred  Methodists  in  the  classes  of  that  province  and 
Newfoundland.  The  Methodism  of  "  Eastern  British  Amer- 
ica "  has,  by  our  day,  grown  to  mature  strength  ;  it  ranks,  in 
the  Wesleyan  Minutes,  as  a  Conference  with  eight,  districts, 
nearly  one  hundred  circuits,  more  than  a  hundred  and  twenty 
preachers,  numerous  chapels,  many  of  them  costly  edifices, 
academies,  a  Book  Concern  and  periodical  organ,  missions,  and 
thousands  of  communicants. 

Before  the  present  term  of  our  narrative  closes,  Methodism 
had  penetrated  the   British  North  American  possessions  at 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  235 

another  point,  in  what  was  then  the  remote  Western  frontier. 
We  have  seen  that  in  Garrettson's  great  pioneer  scheme  for 
the  Upper  Hudson  he  projected,  as  his  northernmost  outpost, 
in  1788,  the  Lake  Champlain  Circuit,  with  Samuel  Wigton  as 
its  solitary  itinerant.  The  next  year,  William  Losee,  with 
David  Kendall  as  his  colleague,  traveled  this  frontier  territory. 
Their  journeys  brought  them  within  sight  of  Canada.  The 
circuit  seems  not,  however,  to  have  been  successful,  for  in  1790 
it  was  abandoned.  It  is  supposed  that  Losee  received  permis- 
sion from  Garrettson  (in  the  winter  of  1789-90)  to  range  at 
large,  seeking  a  more  eligible  field.  He  had  kindred  in  Upper 
Canada,  and.  went  among  them  preaching  the  Gospel ;  he 
thus  became,  so  far  as  the  regular  ministry  is  concerned,  the 
apostle  of  Methodism  in  that  province,  and  1790  is  usually 
recognized  as  its 'epoch.  In  January  of  this  year  Losee  crossed 
the  St.  Lawrence. 

We  have  often  been  reminded,  in  the  course  of  this  narra- 
tive, of  the  adaptation  of  Methodism,  by  some  of  its  provi- 
dential peculiarities,  for  its  self-propagation.  Its  class  and 
prayer-meetings  trained  most,  if  not  all,  its  laity  to  practical 
missionary  labor,  and  three  or  four  of  them,  meeting  in  any 
distant  part  of  the  earth,  by  the  emigrations  of  these  times, 
were  prepared  immediately  to  become  the  nucleus  of  a  Church. 
The  lay  or  local  ministry,  borne  on  by  the  tide  of  population, 
were  almost  everywhere  found,  prior  to  the  arrival  of  regular 
preachers,  ready  to  sustain  religious  services — the  pioneers  of 
the  Church  in  nearly  every  new  field.  The  year  1790  was  not 
the  real  epoch  of  Methodism  in  Canada.  The  sainted  Barbara 
Heck,  foundress  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States,  went  with 
her  children,  it  is  probable,  into  the  province  as  early  as  1774. 
The  wife  and  children  of  Embury  also  went  thither,  and  the 
names  of  these  memorable  families  recur  often  in  the  primi- 
tive annals  of  the  denomination,  from  Augusta  to  Quebec. 
Mrs.  Heck  and  her  three  sons  were  members  of  a  class  at 
Augusta,  under  the  leadership  of  Samuel,  son  of  Philip  Em- 
bury. In  1780  a  local  preacher,  by  the  name  of  Tuppey,  was 
a  commissary  of  a  British  regiment  at  Quebec.  He  labored 
about  three  years,  and  some  of  his  hearers  and  converts  were 


HISTORY    OF    THE 

left  scattered  through  the  settlements  of  the  province.  "  "We 
may  regard  this  British  soldier,"  says  the  Canadian  historian, 
"  as  the  first  Methodist  preacher  in  Canada."  The  second 
was  George  Neal,  an  Irish  local  preacher,  and  major  of  a  cav- 
alry regiment  of  the  British  army.  Bangs,  who  early  traveled 
the  circuits  of  that  region,  says,  "  He  was  a  holy  man  of  God, 
and  an  able  minister  of  the  New  Testament.  His  word  was 
blessed  to  the  awakening  and  conversion  of  many  souls,  and 
he  was  always  spoken  of  by  the  people  with  great  affection 
and  veneration  as  the  pioneer  of  Methodism  in  that  country. 
Among  those  who  first  joined  the  Society  may  be  mentioned 
Christian  Warner,  who  lived  near  what  is  now  called  St. 
Davids,  and  became  a  class  leader ;  his  house  was  a  home  for 
the  preachers  and  for  preaching  for  many  years.  He  was  con- 
sidered a  father  in  Israel  by  all  who  knew  him.  The  first 
Methodist  meeting-house  erected  in  that  part  of  the  country 
was  in  his  neighborhood.  Neal  lived  to  see  large  and  flourish- 
ing Societies  established  through  all  that  country,  and  at 
length  was  gathered  to  his  fathers  in  a  good  old  age."  For 
some  time  this  military  evangelist  held  up  the  Methodistic 
banner,  alone,  in  all  the  province,  but  in  1788  two  other 
pioneers  entered  the  field.  An  exhorter  by  the  name  of 
Lyons  came  from  the  United  States  and  opened  a  school  at 
Adolphustown,  in  the  Bay  of  Quinte  country.  He  collected 
the  people  together  on  Sabbath  days,  in  different  neighbor- 
hoods, "  and  sung  and  prayed,  and  exhorted  the  people  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come." 

In  the  same  year  James  M'Carty,  an  Irishman,  from  the 
United  States,  and  a  convert  of  Whitefield's  ministry,  reached 
Kingston,  and  passed  on  to  Ernestown,  where  he  found  out 
Robert  Perry  and  other  lay  Methodists,  and  began  immedi- 
ately to  hold  religious  meetings  in  their  log-cabins-  Many 
were  brought  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  and  the  enjoyment 
of  religion.  His  success  provoked  the  hostility  of  leading 
Churchmen.  A  sheriff,  a  captain  of  militia,  and  an  engineer 
combined  to  rid  the  country  of  his  zealous  labors,  and  M'Carty 
was  destined  to  be  honored  as  the  protomartyr  of  Methodism 
in  Canada.     He  was  suddenly  seized,  thrust  into  a  boat,  and 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  237 

conveyed  by  four  Frenchmen,  hired  for  the  purpose,  down  the 
St.  Lawrence,  to  the  rapids  near  Cornwall.     He  was  landed 
on  one  of  the  numerous  solitary  islands  of  that  part  of  the 
stream,   and  may  have  perished  by  starvation,  or  have  been 
drowned  in  attempting  to  reach  the  main  shore  ;  but  his  fate 
has  never  been  disclosed.     The  sad  mystery  has  consecrated 
his  name  in  the  history  of  the  Canadian  Church.     "  Undoubt- 
edly," says  Playter,  its  historian,  "  M'Carty  was  a  martyr  for 
the  Gospel,  and  so  he  was  regarded  by  the  early  inhabitants." 
In  entering   Canada  (in  1790)  Losee  probably  crossed  the 
St.  Lawrence  at  St.  Kegis,  for  it  seems  that  he  preached  in 
Matilda,  Augusta,  and  Elizabethtown,  and  then  passed  up 
to  Kingston,  and  thence  to  Adolphustown,  where  his  kindred 
resided.     "  He  had  but  one  arm ;  and  yet  with  one  hand  to 
use,  he  could  readily  mount  and  dismount  his  horse,  and  guide 
him  over  the  roughest  roads  and  most  dangerous  crossways. 
He  was  a  bold  horseman,  and  usually  rode  his  journeys  on  the 
gallop.     Yet  he  was  a  man  of  very  solemn  aspect,  with  straight 
hair,  a  long  countenance,  and  grave  voice.     His  talents  were 
not  so  much  for  sermonizing  as  for  exhortation.     He,  and  the 
preachers  generally  of  that  day,  were  of  the  revival   class ; 
laboring,  looking,  praying  for  immediate  results.     The  man, 
his  manner,  and  his  style  of  preaching,  caught  the  attention 
of  the  settlers,  and  young  and  old  filled  the  houses  where  he 
preached." 

In  1791  Losee  formed  a  circuit.  He  was  yet  young,  being 
but  about  twenty-seven  years  of  age.  He  named  with  zeal  for 
his  new  and  great  work,  and  had  no  cares  but  those  of  his 
office,  being  unmarried.  The  Methodist  itinerancy  was  thus 
initiated  in  Canada.  Its  first  Methodist  chapel  was  erected 
at  Adolphustown,  in  1792.  In  the  same  month  the  second 
chapel  was  begun  in  Ernestown,  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
eastern  part  of  the  circuit,  the  first  being  at  its  western  end. 
Both  structures  were  of  the  same  size,  thirty-six  feet  by  thirty, 
two  stories  high,  with  galleries.  Losee  returned  to  the  Con- 
ference of  1792  bearing  cheering  reports  of  his  great  field. 
The  Minutes  record  a  hundred  and  sixty-five  members  in  his 
Societies ;  his  circuit  was  divided  into  two,  and  he  hastened 


238  HISTORY   OF  THE 

back  with  Darius  Dunham  as  his  colleague.  Yast  results  were 
to  follow ;  gigantic  laborers  to  appear  in  the  opening  wilder- 
ness ;  circuits  and  Societies  to  keep  pace  with  the  advancing 
frontier,  and  to  reach  eastward  to  Quebec ;  Indian  missions  to 
arise ;  Methodist  chapels,  many  of  them  elegant  edifices,  to  dot 
the  country;  a  book  concern,  periodical  organs,  a  university,  and 
academies  to  be  provided,  and  the  denomination  to  become 
numerically  the  predominant  faith  of  the  people.  Methodism 
in  the  British  Provinces,  especially  in  Canada,  remained  for 
many  years  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  It  is,  therefore,  relevantly  included  in  our  early 
history,  and,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  is  one  of  its  most  im- 
portant results. 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL  CHUECH.  239 


CHAPTER  XVn. 

INTRODUCTION   OF  METHODISM    INTO   NEW    ENGLAND. 

Near  the  center  of  the  Boston  Park,  or  Common,  stands  a 
venerable  elm,  the  crowning  ornament  of  its  scenery.  Its  de- 
cayed limbs  are  held  together  by  clamps  and  rivets  of  iron, 
and  a  railing  defends  it  from  rude  hands,  for  it  is  sacred  in  the 
traditions  of  New  England.  It  is  especially  sacred  to  the 
Methodists  of  the  eastern  metropolis.  On  a  serene  afternoon 
of  July,  1790,  a  man  of  middle  age,  of  a  benign  but  shrewd 
countenance,  and  dressed  in  a  style  of  simplicity  which  might 
have  been  supposed  the  guise  of  a  Quaker,  took  his  stand  upon 
a  -table  to  preach  beneath  its  branches.  Four  persons  ap- 
proached, and  gazed  upon  him  with  surprise  while  he  sang  a 
hymn.  It  was  sung  by  his  solitary  voice  ;  at  its  conclusion  he 
knelt  down  upon  the  table,  and,  stretching  forth  his  hands, 
prayed  with  a  fervor  so  unwonted  in  the  cool  and  minute  pe- 
titions of  the  Puritan  pulpits,  that  it  attracted  the  groups  of 
promenaders,  who  had  come  to  spend  an  evening  hour  in  the 
shady  walks,  and  by  the  time  he  rose  from  his  knees  they  were 
streaming  in  processions  from  the  different  points  of  the  Com- 
mon, toward  him.  While  he  opened  his  small  Bible  and 
preached  to  them  without  "  notes,"  but  with  "  the  demonstra- 
tion of  the  Spirit  and  of  power,"  the  multitude  grew  into  a 
dense  mass,  three  thousand  strong,  eagerly  catching  every 
utterance  of  the  singular  stranger,  and  some  of  them  receiving 
his  message  into  "  honest  and  good  hearts."  A  spectator  who 
heard  him  at  or  about  this  time  says  :  "  When  he  stood  up  in 
the  open  air  and  began  to  sing,  I  knew  not  what  it  meant.  I 
drew' near,  however,  to  listen,  and  thought  the  prayer  was  the 
best  I  had  ever  heard.  When  he  entered  upon  the  subject- 
matter  of  his  text,  it  was  in  such  a  tone  of  voice  that  I  could 
not  refrain  from  weeping ;  and  many  others  were  affected  in 


240  .HISTORY    OF    THE 

the  same  way.  "When  lie  was  done,  and  we  had  an  opportu- 
nity of  expressing  our  views  to  each  other,  it  was  agreed  that 
such  a  man  had  not  visited  New  England  since  the  days  of 
Whitefield.  I  heard  him  again,  and  thought  I  could  follow 
him  to  the  ends  of  the  earth."  This  evangelist  was  Jesse 
Lee,  the  founder  of  Methodism  in  the  Eastern  states ;  and 
although  the  preceding  year  must  be  admitted  as  its  true 
epoch,  yet  the  year  of  his  appearance  in  Boston.  1790,  may 
be  considered  the  period  in  which  it  assumed  a  definite  and 
secure  position.  He  had  arrived  in  Connecticut  in  June, 
1789,  and  preached  at  Norwalk,  New  Haven,  and  many  other 
places,  and  toward  the  end  of  the  year  formed  a  class  in  Strat- 
field,  a  parish  of  Stratford,  and  another  at  Reading,  but  these 
were  only  preliminary  movements.  He  was  alone,  surveying 
the  ground.  The  classes  in  Stratford  and  Reading  consisted, 
the  first  of  but  three,  and  the  last  of  but  two,  members ;  the 
former  was  organized  but  about  three  months,  and  the  latter 
only  about  three  days,  prior  to  1790.  It  was  in  the  latter  year 
that  a  detachment  of  preachers,  Jacob  Brush,  George  Roberts, 
and  Daniel  Smith,  arrived  to  prosecute  the  plans  of  Lee,  and 
the  labors  of  Methodism  in  New  England  were  fairly  begun. 
It  was  also  in  this  year  that  the  Annual  Minutes  report,  for 
the  first  time,  returns  of  members  from  New  England  towns. 

After  five  years  of  delay,  occasioned  chiefly  by  the  hesitancy 
of  his  brethren,  Lee  had  at  last  accomplished  his  ardent  wish 
of  planting  the  Methodistic  standard  in  the  Eastern  States. 
The  denomination  had  spread  into  all  the  Atlantic  States  out 
of  New  England ;  it  had  penetrated  into  the  primeval  wilder- 
nesses of  the  West,  and  its  itinerant  heralds  were  marching  in 
the  van  of  that  vast  emigration  which  has  since  covered  the 
immense  regions  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  with  magnificent 
states.  It  had  even  entered  Canada,  and,  passing  along  the 
waters  of  New  England,  had  established  itself  in  Nova  Scotia. 
It  now  resolutely  broke  into  this  hard  but  fruitful  field.  Lee 
had  been  commissioned  by  the  New  York  Conference  of  1789 
to  bear  thither  its  standard.  During  the  first  year  he  was 
alone  in  the  new  field,  and  when  others  came  to  his  help  he 
left  them  to  occupy  the  posts  he  had  already  established,  while 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  241 

he  himself  went  to  and  fro  in  all  directions,  penetrating  to  the 
remotest  northeastern  frontier,  preaching  in  private  houses,  in 
barns,  on  the  highways,  forming  new  circuits,  and  identifying 
himself  with  every  advancement  of  the  Church.  On  the  17th 
of  June,  1789,  he  preached  his  first  sermon  in  New  England  at 
Eorwalk,  Conn.  Having  spent  about  three  months  in  Con- 
necticut, and  surveyed  the  ground  for  an  extensive  circuit,  to 
be  occupied  by  assistants  whom  he  hoped  would  come  from  the 
South  to  his  aid,  he  departed  on  another  exploring  tour  through 
Rhode  Island.  He  thus  records  his  feelings  on  concluding  this 
excursion :  "  I  have  found  great  assistance  from  the  Lord  of 
late.  To-day  I  have  preached  four  times,  and  felt  better  at 
the  conclusion  of  my  labor  than  I  did  when  I  first  arose  in  the 
morning.  I  have  found  a  great  many  Baptists  in  this  part  of 
the  country  who  are  lively  in  religion.  They  are  mostly  dif- 
ferent from  those  I  have  formerly  been  acquainted  with ;  for 
these  will  let  men  of  all  persuasions  commune  with  them  if 
they  believe  they  are  in  favor  with  the  Lord.  I  think  the  way 
is  now  open  for  our  preachers  to  visit  this  part  of  the  land.  It 
is  the  wish  of  many  that  I  should  stay,  and  they  beg  that  I 
would  return  again  as  soon  as  possible,  although  they  never 
saw  a  Methodist  before.  I  am  the  first  preacher  of  our  way 
that  has  ever  visited  this  part  of  the  country." 

Returning  to  Connecticut,  he  preached,  on  Friday,  the  25th, 
at  Stratfield.  It  was  a  memorable  day.  After  the  sermon  he 
conducted  "  a  kind  of  class  meeting,"  composed  of  about  twenty 
persons.  It  was  the  first  class  meeting  held  on  the  circuit,  and 
led  to  the  formation,  the  next  day,  of  the  first  class,  composed 
of  three  women,  who,  he  says,  "  appeared  willing  to  bear  the 
cross,  and  have  their  names  cast  out  as  evil,  for  the  Lord's 
sake."  Since  his  arrival  in  New  England,  three  months  of 
incessant  labors  and  vexatious  rebuffs  had  passed,  and  but 
three  women  were  organized  into  the  new  Church,  which  was 
"  to  spread  scriptural  holiness  over  the  land."  But  Lee  had 
the  faith  which  is  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen,  and  before 
its  hopeful  vision  all  the  eastern  hills  and  valleys  stood  forth 
white  unto  the  harvest.  He  gave  thanks,  mounted  his  horsey 
the  only  companion  of  his  laborious  travels,  and  went  forth  to 

16 


242  HISTORY    OF    THE 

new  trials  and  greater  achievements.  Monday,  the  28th  of 
December,  though  in  these  prosperous  times  it  may  appear  a 
"  day  of  small  things,"  was  another  signal  period  in  the  history 
of  his  mission — the  date  of  the  second  Society  formed  by  him 
in  the  State.  "  I  preached,"  he  writes,  "  in  Keading,  and  found 
great  assistance  from  the  Lord  in  speaking.  I  felt  that  God 
was  among  the  people.  One  or  two  kneeled  down  with  me 
when  we  prayed.  The  lion  begins  to  roar  very  loud  in  this 
place,  a  sure  sign  that  he  is  about  to  lose  some  of  his  subjects. 
I  joined  two  in  Society  for  a  beginning.  A  man  who  has  lately 
received  the  witness  of  his  being  in  favor  with  the  Lord  led 
the  way,  and  a  woman,  who,  I  hope,  was  lately  converted,  fol- 
lowed." The  former  was  Aaron  Sandford,  who  afterward  be- 
came a  local  preacher,  and  lived  to  see  his  children  and  many 
of  his  grandchildren  members  of  the  Church,  with  a  large  and 
influential  Society  gathered  around  him.  His  name  has  been 
represented  by  a  son  and  a  grandson  in  the  Methodist  min- 
istry. 

About  seven  months  of  indefatigable  toil  had  now  passed, 
and  but  two  classes,  with  an  aggregate  of  five  members,  were 
formed.  Eeasoning  from  sight,  and  not  by  faith,  the  persist- 
ent preacher  might  well  have  despaired ;  but,  "  Glory  be  to 
God ! "  he  writes,  on  forming  this  class  of  two  members,  "  Glory 
be  to  God,  that  I  now  begin  to  see  some  fruit  of  my  labor  in 
this  barren  part  of  the  world."  And  he  departed  on  his  way 
to  other  toils,  exclaiming  again,  "  Glory  be  to  God  that  he  ever 
called  me  to  work  in  his  vineyard,  and  sent  me  to  seek  and  to 
feed  the  sheep  of  his  fold  in  New  England.  The  Lord  only 
knows  the  difficulties  I  have  had  to  wade  through,  yet  his 
grace  is  sufficient  for  me.  When  I  pass  through  the  fire  and 
water,  he  is  with  me ;  and  rough  ways  are  smooth  when  Jesus 
bears  me  in  his  arms."  He  was  supported  by  the  conscious- 
ness that  Methodism  was  needed  in  New  England,  and  would, 
therefore,  sooner  or  later,  be  divinely  prospered ;  and  by  re- 
markable communications  of  grace  and  consolation  from  on 
high,  such  as  he  records,  amid  the  inclemencies  of  a  bleak, 
wintry  day,  about  this  time,  "  I  set  out,"  he  writes,  "  and  my 
soul  was  transported  with  joy;    the  snow  falling,  the  wind 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  243 

blowing,  prayer  ascending,  faith  increasing,  grace  descending 
heaven  smiling,  and  love  abounding."  On  the  28th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1790,  he  formed  the  third  class  of  his  circuit.  "I 
preached,"  he  says,  "  at  Jacob  Wheeler's,  in  Limestone,  and 
after  meeting  formed  a  class,  two  men  and  two  women.  Per- 
haps these  may  be  like  the  leaven  hid  in  three  measures  of 
meal,  that  may  leaven  the  whole  neighborhood,  and  many  may 
be  brought  to  say,  I  will  go  with  this  people,  because  we  have 
heard  that  God  is  with  them." 

By  this  time  the  whole  state  was  rife  with  rumors  of  him  as 
a  strange  man  who  had  come  from  the  South,  and  was  travel- 
ing through  its  villages  on  horseback,  and  in  a  costume  of 
Quaker-like  simplicity;  a  very  "remarkable  man,"  who 
preached  every  day  and  several  times  a  day,  and  went  every- 
where, without  knowing  any  person ;  exceedingly  good- 
humored,  witty  even ;  of  a  most  musical  voice,  making  his 
hearers  smile  or  weep  as  he  pleased,  but  mostly  weep ;  "  hold- 
ing forth  "  in  the  court-houses,  the  school-houses,  sometimes  in 
the  more  liberal  village  churches,  but  oftener  under  the  trees 
of  the  highway;  that  he  frequently  lighted  the  court-house 
himself,  and  then  rung  the  bell  to  call  out  the  people ;  that  the 
pastors  and  deacons  valiantly  resisted  him  as  a  heretic,  for  he 
was  an  Arminian ;  that  they  turned  his  discourses  into  interlo- 
cutions by  their  questions  and  disputations,  but  that  he  con- 
founded them  by  his  tact,  if  not  by  his  logic ;  that  he  scattered 
the  village  wits  or  wags  by  his  irresistible  repartees ;  and  that 
many  drunkards  and  other  reprobates  were  reformed,  and 
many  a  good  man,  despondent  under  the  old  theology,  was 
comforted  by  his  refreshing  doctrines.  Many  who  liked  his 
theology  could  not  approve  his  preaching,  because  he  acknowl- 
edged that  he  was  not  an  "  educated  minister."  The  pastor, 
and  sometimes  the  village  lawyer  or  doctor,  tested  him  with 
Latin  and  Greek  phrases  ;  he  responded  in  Dutch,  a  knowledge 
of  which  he  had  picked  up  in  his  childhood ;  they  supposed 
this  to  be  Hebrew,  and  retreated,  or  took  sides  with  him  as 
competent  to  preach.  But  above  all,  they  saw  that  he  was 
evidently  an  earnest  and  devout  man.  He  prayed  mightily, 
and  preached  overwhelmingly. 


24:4:  HISTORY   OF   THE 

In  one  of  the  villages  of  Connecticut  lived  at  this  time  an 
honest  and  intelligent  blacksmith,  who,  when  Lee  appeared 
there,  kept  his  family  closely  at  home,  lest  they  should  become 
infected  with  the  itinerant's  supposed  heterodoxy.  One  of  his 
sons,  about  twelve  years  old,  heard  of  the  arrival  of  the 
stranger.  He  was  not  allowed  to  hear  him  preach,  but  never 
forgot  him  nor  the  marvelous  rumors  of  his  ministry.  He  was 
destined  to  become  Lee's  greatest  successor  in  this  very  field, 
and  to  do  more  important  services  for  American  Methodism 
than  any  other  man  recorded  in  its  history,  save  Asbury. 
Such  was  Dr.  Nathan  Bangs's  first  knowledge  of  Methodism. 

Lee  continued  his  untiring  labors,  journeying  and  preaching, 
without  the  aid  or  sympathy  of  a  single  colleague,  until  the 
27th  of  February,  1790,  when  he  received,  at  Dantown,  the 
unexpected  and  joyful  intelligence  that  three  preachers  were 
on  their  way  to  join  him.  After  the  preceding  notices  of  his 
solitary  labors  and  struggles,  we  can  appreciate  the  simple  but 
touching  description  of  their  arrival,  which  he  recorded  at  the 
time :  "  Just  before  the  time  of  meeting  a  friend  informed  me 
that  there  were  three  preachers  coming  from  a  distance  to 
labor  with  me  in  New  England.  I  was  greatly  pleased  at  the 
report,  and  my  heart  seemed  to  reply,  '  Blessed  is  he  that 
cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.'  "When  I  saw  them  riding 
up  I  stood  and  looked  at  them,  and  could  say  from  my  heart, 
'  Thou  hast  well  done  that  thou  art  come.'  Jacob  Brush,  an 
elder,  and  George  Roberts  and  Daniel  Smith,  two  young 
preachers,  came  from  Maryland,  to  assist  me  in  this  part  of 
the  world.  No  one  knows,  but  God  and  myself,  what  comfort 
and  joy  I  felt  at  their  arrival.  Surely  the  Lord  has  had  respect 
unto  my  prayers,  and  granted  my  request." 

He  was  holding  a  Quarterly  Meeting,  in  a  partly  finished 
church,  the  second  Methodist  one  begun  in  New  England,  at 
the  time  of  the  arrival  of  these  brethren  at  Dantown.  Mutu- 
ally comforted  and  enlivened  by  the  interview,  they  entered 
with  renewed  zeal  upon  their  labors,  and  during  the  services 
the  next  day  (Sabbath)  "  the  power  of  the  Lord,"  says  a  histo- 
rian of  Methodism,  "  was  so  manifested  that  many  cried  aloud 
for  mercy ;  a  thing  so  unusual  in  that  part  of  the  country  that 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUKOH.  215 

some  were  very  much  alarmed,  and  fled  from  the  house  in 
consternation ;  and  others,  who  were  in  the  gallery,  jumped 
out  on  the  ground.  In  the  midst,  however,  of  the  confusion 
occasioned  by  these  movements,  those  who  had  an  experience 
of  divine  things  rejoiced  with  exceeding  great  joy." 

There  were,  then,  in  the  spring  of  1790,  in  the  Methodist 
ministry  of  the  Eastern  States,  four  men.  There  were  more 
preachers  than  classes,  and  scarcely  more  than  two  members 
to  each  preacher.;  but  they  looked  and  labored  for  the  future, 
and  tens  of  thousands  of  New  England  Methodists  now  testify 
to  the  wisdom  of  their  hopes. 

A  part  of  Connecticut,  and  all  the  eastern  and  northern 
sections  of  New  England,  were  yet  unentered  by  the  Meth- 
odist ministry.  Cheered  by  the  arrival  of  fellow-laborers,  and 
accompanied  by  one  of  them,  Lee  started  for  these  remoter 
regions.  On  Wednesday,  March  3d,  he  says  that  Smith  and 
himself  set  out  to  the  eastward,  leaving  Brush  to  supply  his 
two-weeks'  circuit. 

On  Saturday,  April  17,  Lee  penetrated  into  Windham 
County,  Yermont,  where  he  stayed  two  days,  and  passing 
through  a  portion  of  New  Hampshire,  entered  Massachusetts. 
He  records  "  many  discouragements,"  and  "  not  so  much  satis- 
faction in  Massachusetts  as  in  Connecticut."  On  the  10th  of 
May  he  was  again  in  the  latter  State,  preaching,  and  consoling 
himself  with  his  colaborer,  George  Roberts,  at  Middletown.  He 
traveled  to  and  fro,  proclaiming  daily  the  word  of  life,  until 
the  latter  part  of  June,  when  he  again  set  his  face  toward  the 
east.  On  his  route  from  Providence  to  Boston  his  attention 
was  suddenly  arrested  by  a  sight  as  astonishing  to  him,  in  his 
peculiar  circumstances,  as  a  supernatural  apparition  could  well 
have  been.  He  saw  at  a  distance  on  the  road  two  men  on 
horseback  habited  with  the  simplicity  of  Methodist  preachers, 
and  accompanied  by  that  invariable  symbol  of  the  early  itiner- 
ancy, the  now  obsolete  saddle-bags.  One  of  these  horsemen 
was  an  intelligent  but  humble-looking  colored  man,  who  seemed 
to  enjoy  his  position  more  than  if  he  were  attending  a  hero  in 
a  triumph ;  the  other  was  a  man  of  small  but  robust  stature, 
neatly  clad,  of  benignant  aspect,  and  presenting  to  Lee's'  eye  a 


246  HISTORY   OF   THE 

startling  resemblance  to  one  of  his  old  companions  in  the  itin- 
erant labors  of  the  South.  They  appeared  dusty  and  weary, 
as  if  they  had  journeyed  far  during  the  day.  Lee  quickened 
his  pace,  halted  before  them,  and  was  soon  clasping  with  de- 
light the  hand  of  his  former  friend  and  fellow-laborer,  Freeborn 
Garrettson.  His  colored  companion  was  the  noted  "Black 
Harry,"  who  not  only  ministered  to  the  temporal  convenience 
of  his  master,  but  aided  in  his  spiritual  labors  by  frequently 
exhorting  and  preaching  after  him.  The  meeting  of  the  two 
evangelists  on  the  highway  was  too  remarkable  not  to  attract 
attention ;  a  spectator  approached  them,  and  perceiving  their 
character,  and  affected  by  their  spirit,  invited  them  to  partake 
of  his  hospitality  and  preach  at  his  house  in  the  evening. 
Such  interviews  were  too  rare  and  too  refreshing  in  that  day 
not  to  be  relished  by  the  weary  itinerants.  They  accepted  the 
invitation,  preached  that  night  and  the  next  morning  in  the 
house  of  their  host,  and  tarried  till  after  dinner  in  comforting 
conversations  and  devotions.  On  his  return  from  Nova  Scotia, 
in  1787,  Garrettson  passed  through  Boston,  where  he  found 
three  persons  who  had  been  members  of  the  Society  which 
was  formed  there  by  Boardman.  The  Society  had  expired 
for  lack  of  pastoral  care.  Garrettson  preached  several  ser- 
mons in  private  houses,  and  departed  to  the  South,  not, 
however,  without  the  purpose  of  future  efforts  for  the  city. 
After  laboring  some  time  in  Maryland,  he  started  on  his  way 
to  New  England,  in  May,  1788 ;  but  on  arriving  at  New  York 
he  was  induced  by  Asbury  to  lead  the  pioneer  expedition  up 
the  Hudson.  He  was  thus  prevented  from  anticipating  Lee 
in  the  labor  and  honor  of  founding  Methodism  in  New 
England.  He  kept  a  steady  eye  upon  it,  however,  especially 
upon  Boston,  and  in  1790,  while  yet  superintending  the 
northern  district,  he  started  on  his  present  excursion  to  the 
eastern  metropolis. 

He  entered  the  northwestern  angle  of  Connecticut  at  Sharon, 
on  the  20th  of  June,  accompanied  by  "  Harry,"  and  preached 
under  the  trees  to  about  one  thousand  people.  Continuing  his 
route,  he  and  Harry  preached  almost  daily  till  they  arrived  in 
Boston.     Here  they  also  labored  hard,  but  with  little  success^ 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  247 

and  departing,  met  Lee,  bound  for  the  same  difficult  post.     On 
parting  from  Garrettson,  Lee  pressed  forward  to  Boston,  where 
he  arrived  on  the  9th  of  July.     The  impression  produced  by  the 
brief  visit  of  the  former  had  already  evanesced.     The  day  was 
spent  in  useless  attempts  to  procure  a  place,  public  or  private, 
for  preaching ;  "  every  expedient  failed."     But  not  discouraged, 
he  took  his  stand,  as  we  have  seen,  on  the  Common  the  next 
day  and  delivered  his  message  to  three  thousand  people.     As 
the  way  seemed  not  yet  open  for  him,  he  left  the  city  the  fol- 
lowing day,  to  survey  yet  more  extensively  his  eastern  field. 
He  made  his  way  as  far  as  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  preaching  con- 
tinually, and  returned  to  Boston,  where  he  not  only  preached 
on  the  Common,  but  also  in  a  private  house ;  and,  on  one  occa- 
sion, in  a  meeting-house  belonging  to  the  Baptists,  which  had 
been  vacant.     On  the  ensuing  Sabbath  he  was  again  upon  the 
Common,  addressing  a  much   greater  multitude  than  on  the 
two  former  occasions.     Although  there  had  been  a  consider- 
able fall  of  rain  that  day,  and  the  earth  was  quite  wet,  he  cal- 
culated that  there  were  not  less  than  five  thousand  present. 
Having  surveyed  his  new  sphere  of  labor  in  the  East,  he  de- 
parted on  his  way  to  the  next  Conference,  in  New  York  city. 
More  than  sixteen  months  had  elapsed  since  his  appointment 
to  New  England,  about  nine  of  them  without  the  support  of  a 
single  colleague.    After  traveling  through  portions  of  Connecti- 
cut, Ehode  Island,  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire,  and  Ver- 
mont, proclaiming  the  wo*rd  of  life  in  fields,  court-houses,  pri- 
vate houses,  and  churches,  by  day  and  by  night,  and  surmount- 
ing obstacles  from  which  most  men  would  have  recoiled  in  dis- 
gust or  despair,  he  entered  the  Conference  in  New  York  city, 
October  4,  1790,  to   solicit  additional  laborers  for  the   east. 
What  could  he  report  of  his  services,  since  he  left  the  same 
body,  in  June  of  the  preceding  year?    A  tale  of  as  hard  fare 
and  as  hard  labors,  doubtless,  as  any  one  there  could  relate, 
except  possibly  the  venerable  man  who  sat  in  the  chair — the 
unequaled  Asbury.     But  not  of  toils  and  trials  alone  could  he 
speak ;  much  had  been  achieved.     Connecticut,  Bhode  Island, 
and  Eastern  Massachusetts  had  been  thoroughly  surveyed,  for 
more  definite  plans  of  labor.     He  himself  had  proclaimed  the 


24:8  HISTORY   OF    THE 

principles  of  Methodism  in  all  the  five  New  England  States. 
He  had  removed  much  prejudice,  and  put  the  whole  country 
more  or  less  in  expectation  of  further  efforts.  Prior  to  his  de- 
parture from  Connecticut  to  Boston  he  had  formed  definitively 
two  circuits,  Stamford,  or  Heading,  as  it  was  afterward  called, 
and  New  Haven,  and  subsequently  the  general  outlines  of  an- 
other, in  Eastern  Massachusetts.  His  fellow-laborers  had  also 
extended  their  travels  in  many  directions,  so  that  five  circuits 
were  recorded  on  the  Minutes  at  the  Conference  of  1790. 
Nearly  two  hundred  souls  had  been  united  in  classes ;  a  remark- 
ably large  number,  if  we  consider  the  formidable  obstacles  which 
obstructed  every  movement  of  the  few  laborers  in  the  field. 
Two  chapels,  at  least,  had  been  erected ;  one  in  the  parish  of 
Stratfield,  town  of  Stratford,  by  the  society  of  Weston,  (now 
Easton,)  called  Lee's  Chapel:  the  first  Methodist  one  built  in 
New  England ;  the  second,  in  Dantown,  partially  built,  when 
Lee  welcomed  into  it  his  newly  arrived  assistants  on  the  27th 
February. 

Such  were  the  results,  thus  far;  and  with  these  for  his  ar- 
guments, he  could  not  fail  to  intercede  successfully  for  his  new 
field.  He  spent  three  hours  in  a  private  interview  with  As- 
bury,  discussing  its  claims.  That  good  and  far-seeing  man  not 
only  complied  with  his  wishes,  so  far  as  to  dispatch  with  him 
additional  laborers,  but  resolved  to  visit  the  Eastern  States 
himself  in  the  course  of  the  ensuing  year. 

In  the  following  schedule  of  the  appointments  made  at  this 
Conference  for  New  England  we  have  an  outline  of  the  field 
of  Methodism  within  its  limits:  Jesse  Lee,  Elder;  Fairfield 
John  Bloodgood ;  New  Haven,  John  Lee ;  Hartford,  Nathan- 
iel B.  Mills;  Boston,  Jesse  Lee,  Daniel  Smith.  Besides  these 
circuits,  under  the  nominal  supervision  of  Lee,  there  was  the 
Litchfield  Circuit,  Conn.,  traveled  by  Samuel  Wigton  and 
Henry  Christie,  and  included  in  a  district  which  lay  mostlv 
within  the  State  of  New  York,  under  the  presiding  eldership 
of  Garrettson.  One  district  and  part  of  a  second,  five  circuits, 
and  seven  preachers,  constituted,  then,  the  ministerial  arrange- 
ments of  Methodism  for  New  England  during  the  ecclesias- 
tical year  1790-91.     Lee  was  preparing,  at  the  Conference,  to 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  249 

return  to  his  eastern  labors  and  struggles ;  but  before  he  left 
melancholy  news  arrived,  informing  him  of  the  death  of  his 
mother,  whom  he  had  not  seen  for  two  years  and  a  half.  He 
wept,  was  "confused  in  mind,  scarcely  knowing  whether  to 
return  to  New  England  or  go  home ; "  but  his  missionary  zeal 
prevailed ;  he  sent  his  brother  to  the  afflicted  family,  "  went 
with  him  to  the  ferry,  stood  and  looked  after  him  for  a  while,  re- 
turned with  a  sorrowful  heart,"  and,  in  less  than  a  week,  was 
sounding  his  evangelical  trumpet  again  in  the  unfinished 
chapel,  and  receiving  consolation  in  his  sorrow  from  the  little 
band  of  disciples,  at  Dantown,  Conn.  He  also  visited  Stam- 
ford, Middlesex,  Wilton,  Heading,  Newtown,  Stratford,  Putney, 
Milford,  Wallingford,  Middlefield,  Middletown,  South  Farms, 
Wethersfield,  and  Hartford,  at  the  last  of  which  places  he 
formed  a  Society.  From  Hartford  he  set  out  for  Boston,  and 
arrived  there  on  the  13th  of  November.  The  next  day  was 
Sunday,  but  there  was  no  place  in  which  he  could  preach. 
At  night  he  addressed  a  small  company  in  a  private  house. 
His  reception  in  the  Puritan  city  at  this  time  was,  if  possible, 
even  more  discouraging  than  at  his  previous  visit.  The  de- 
scription of  it  is  chilling.  "  The  following  part  of  the  week," 
he  says,  "  I  met  with  great  and  heavy  trials.  I  took  much 
pains  in  trying  to  get  a  house  to  preach  in,  but  all  in  vain. 
A  few  of  the  friendly  people  made  a  little  move  also,  but  did 
not  succeed.  One  of  the  greatest  friends  I  had  in  the  town, 
when  I  was  here  before,  did  not  come  to  see  me  now ;  and 
when  I  went  to  see  him  would  scarcely  take  any  notice  of  me. 
I  met  with  difficulties  and  troubles  daily,  yet  I  put  my  trust  in 
God,  and  in  general  was  confirmed  in  the  opinion  that  God 
would  bless  my  coming  to  Boston.  The  greater  part  of  the 
week  was  wet,  so  that  I  could  go  out  but  little.  My  cry  was, 
< Lord,  help  me!'" 

More  than  a  week  had  thus  passed  without  affording  a  suit- 
able house  for  preaching ;  and  the  Common,  his  resort  at  his 
former  visit,  was  too  exposed  to  the  inclemency  of  the  season 
to  admit  of  an  assembly  under  its  trees.  On  Monday,  the  22d? 
he  "  tried  every  prudent  means "  to  obtain  a  house,  but  in 
vain.     A  second  week  passed  without  success,  but  a  gleam  of 


250  IIISTORY   OF   THE 

hope  came  from  another  quarter.  "We  had  a  letter,"  he  says, 
"  from  a  gentleman  in  Lynn,  who  desired  me  to  come  and  see 
him,  and  gave  me  some  encouragement,  for  he  said  he  had  a 
desire  to  hear  some  of  the  Methodists  preach.  I  then  began  to 
think  that  the  Lord  was  about  opening  a  way  for  me  there.  I 
made  some  inquiry  about  a  place  in  Boston,  and  told  some  of 
my  best  friends  that  if  they  could  not  get  one  I  would  go  my- 
self, and  try  and  do  the  best  I  could.  I  began  to  think  the 
Lord  would  grant  me  my  request,  and  provide  .me  a  place  to 
preach  in."  He  could  not  leave  Boston  without  further  efforts. 
"  A  man  went  with  me  to  the  high  sheriff,  and  we  asked  for 
liberty  to  preach  in  the  court-house.  He  said  he  could  not 
give  leave  himself,  but  that  the  clerk  of  the  court  had  the  dis- 
posing of  the  house,  and  we  must  apply  to  him.  So  we  went 
to  the  clerk,  but  he  very  abruptly  refused.  After  hearing  him 
talk  for  a  while  we  left  him,  and  I  felt  more  discouraged  than 
ever ;  yet,  if  I  am  right,  the  Lord  will  provide  for  me.  Thurs- 
day, 2d  of  December,  at  night,  one  of  my  friends  came  home 
with  me,  and  told  me  he  had  used  every  means  he  could  to 
get  a  particular  school-house  for  me,  but  had  at  last  received  a 
plain  denial,  and  it  was  given  up.  This,  with  all  the  other 
denials,  bore  pretty  heavy  upon  my  mind,  and  I  began  to 
doubt  again  whether  I  ought  to  be  here  or  not." 

More  than  four  weeks  had  passed  in  these  useless  endeavors 
to  obtain  a  place  for  preaching ;  it  was  time  to  look  elsewhere.* 
"  On  Monday,"  he  writes,  "  I  left  Boston,  and  went  to  Ben- 

*  Nothing,  however,  could  chill  his  humor.  It  was  on  his  way  from  Boston  to 
Lynn  that  he  had  the  famous  trial  of  wit  with  two  lawyers.  While  riding  along 
he  perceived  them  hastening  after  him  on  horseback,  with  evident  expectations  of 
amusement.  They  entered  into  conversation  with  him  on  extemporaneous  speak- 
ing, one  on  each  side  of  him.  "Don't  you  often  make  mistakes?"  "Yes." 
"  Well,  what  do  you  do  with  them  ?  Bet  them  go?  "  "Sometimes  I  do,"  replied 
the  preacher,  dryly;  "  if  they  are  very  important,  I  correct  them;  if  not,  or  if  they 
express  the  truth,  though  differently  from  what  I  'designed,  I  often  let  them  go. 
For  instance,  if,  in  preaching,  I  should  wish  to  quote  the  text  which  says,  'the 
devil  is  a  liar  and  the  father  of  it,'  and  should  happen  to  misquote  it,  and  say,  he 
was  a  ' lawyer,''  etc.,  why,  it  is  so  near  the  truth  I  should  probably  let  it  pass." 
"Humph!  "  exclaimed  the  lawyer,  "I  don't  know  whether  you  are  more  a  knave 
or  a  fool."  "Neither,"  replied  Lee,  looking  from  one  to  the  other,  "I  believe  I 
am  just  between  the  two."  The  gentlemen  of  the  bar  looked  at  each  other,  and 
were  soon  in  advance,  hastening  on  their  way. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  251 

jamin  Johnson's,  in  Lynn,  about  twelve  miles.  I  was  very 
gladly  received  by  him  and  his  family.  I  felt  as  though  I  was 
at  home  as  soon  as  I  arrived.  I  had  not  been  there  long  be- 
fore he  expressed  a  desire  of  having  a  Methodist  Society  set  up 
in  the  town,  though  he  had  not  heard  a  Methodist  preach  for 
nearly  twenty  years.  In  this  place  I  found  several  persons 
that  had  heard  some  of  our  preachers  in  the  South.  Some  of 
the  people  consider  it  as  a  very  favorable  providence  that  I 
have  come  to  Lynn  at  this  time,  and  they  bid  me  welcome  with 
a  cheerful  heart."  The  next  day  the  news  of  his  arrival  was 
spread  through  the  village,  and  in  the  evening  he  preached  at 
Johnson's  house,  the  first  sermon  delivered  by  a  Methodist 
preacher  in  Lynn.  "  I  had,"  he  says,  "  a  good  many  hearers, 
and  great  freedom  in  preaching.  I  maintained  that  Christ 
died  for  all  men,  without  respect  to  persons.  I  felt  much  of 
the  power  and  love  of  God,  and  earnestly  begged  the  people 
to  turn  from  their  sins  and  come  to  Christ.  The  hearers  were 
very  attentive,  and  a  few  of  them  seemed  to  be  somewhat 
affected."  " Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,"  he  adds,  "for  bring- 
ing me  among  this  people."  His  friends  at  Lynn  wished  to 
form  a  Methodist  Society  immediately,  but  leaving  with  them 
copies  of  the  General  Kules,  and  directing  them  to  reflect 
longer  on  their  proposition,  he  returned  again  to  Boston, 
determined  not  to  abandon  it  without  a  further  struggle.  Pe- 
cuniary embarrassments  were  added  to  his  other  vexations,  but 
he  was  not  to  be  discouraged.  "  When  I  arrived  in  Boston," 
he  remarks,  "  everything  appeared  as  dark  as  when  I  left  it, 
respecting  my  preaching.  I  had  to  get  a  new  boarding-place. 
When  I  settled  my  past  boarding  I  had  two  shillings  and  a 
penny  left,  which  was  all  that  I  possessed.  Some  days  before 
I  felt  concerned  about  my  purse,  not  knowing  that  there  was 
enough  in  it  to  discharge  the  debt  due  for  my  board.  I  was 
unwilling  to  let  the  people  kopw  that  my  money  was  just 
gone,  for  fear  they  should  think  it  was  money  only  that  I  was 
after.  But  I  soon  felt  confidence  in  God  that  he  would  pro- 
vide for  me,  though  I  knew  not  how.  However,  a  man  in 
Lynn  offered  to  buy  a  magazine  that  I  had  for  my  own  use. 
I  very  willingly  parted  with  it,  and  by  that  means  was  enabled 


252  HISTOKY   OF    THE 

to  discharge  the  debt.  And  if  I  can  always  have  two  shillings 
by  me,  besides  paying  all  I  owe,  I  think  I  shall  be  satisfied." 
Such  discouragements  would  have  been  insupportable  to  any 
ordinary  man;  but,  though  among  strangers,  repulsed  on 
every  hand,  reduced  to  but  two  shillings,  he  could  not  be 
driven  from  the  city.  "  He  lingered,"  says  his  biographer, 
"  until  he  bore  his  testimony  for  Jesus.  His  preaching  was 
not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  Some  were  touched  under  the  word, 
and  brought  to  feel  the  force  of  divine  truth.  And  let  the 
Methodists  of  Boston,  who  now  enjoy  such  distinguished  priv- 
ileges, recollect  that  they  are  indebted,  under  the  blessing  of 
God,  to  the  indefatigable  perseverance  of  Jesse  Lee,  amid 
neglect  and  insults,  for  their  first  establishment." 

The  remainder  of  this  year,  and  the  year  following,  until 
the  latter  part  of  the  month  of  May,  his  labors  were  principally 
in  Boston,  Lynn,  Marblehead,  Dan  vers,  Manchester,  Beverly, 
Cape  Ann  Harbor,  Ipswich,  and  Salem.  On  the  20th  Febru- 
ary, 1791,  he  formed  the  first  Methodist  Society  of  Massachu- 
setts in  Lynn.  It  consisted  of  eight  members.  On  the  27th 
of  the  same  month  it  amounted  to  twenty-nine  members,  and 
in  the  ensuing  month  of  May  more  than  seventy  persons  took 
certificates  of  their  attendance  on  his  ministry,  a  measure  ren- 
dered necessary  by  the  laws  of  that  day,  in  order  to  secure 
them  from  taxation  for  the  support  of  the  clergy  of  the  "  stand- 
ing order."  On  the  14th  of  June  they  began  the  erection  of 
the  first  Methodist  church  in  Massachusetts.  It  was  raised  on 
the  21st  of  the  same  month,  and  dedicated  on  the  26th.  They 
entered  it  for  public  worship  in  less  than  two  weeks  from  the 
day  on  which  its  foundation  was  laid.  It  may  well  be  supposed 
that  it  wTas  not  finished  with  much  fastidiousness.  It  was,  in 
fact,  but  the  shell  of  a  frame  building. 

Lynn  now  became  his  head-quarters,  until  his  departure  to 
the  next  Conference  at  New  York.  His  excursions  from  it 
were,  however,  incessant,  and  in  all  directions.  He  kept  a 
steady  eye  on  Boston,  returning  to  it  at  frequent  intervals. 

On  Monday,  the  9th  of  May,  he  took  his  leave  of  Lynn  for 
the  New  York  Conference.  "  I  met,"  he  says,  "  the  men's 
class   in   the   morning,   and   they  seemed   lively    and   very 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  253 

humble.  We  had  a  sorrowful  parting.  It  is  not  quite  five 
months  since  I  first  preached  in  this  place,  and  there  are  now  in 
Society  fifty-eight  members.  About  ten  o'clock,  the  men  who 
generally  attend  on  my  preaching  came  to  me  and  obtained 
certificates  to  show  that  they  attended  public  worship  with  the 
Methodists,  and  contributed  to  the  support  of  their  ministry. 
After  dinner  I  prayed  with  those  that  were  present,  and  then ' 
bade  them  all  farewell  and  set  out  for  Conference  at  New  York." 
About  seven  months  had  passed  since  the  preceding  Confer- 
ence. Lee  had  made  a  strong  impression  in  the  region  of  Bos- 
ton, Lynn,  Salem,  Ipswich,  Newburyport,  and  other  towns. 
Only  a  single  Society,  however,  had  been  organized.  An  ex- 
tensive circuit  had,  nevertheless,  been  formed,  with  posts  of 
regular  labor,  and  Boston  itself,  though  no  Society  was  formed 
there  till  the  next  year,  had  given  an  humble  place  to  the  in- 
domitable evangelist ;  one  which,  however  dubious  its  prospects 
might  have  appeared,  could  never  again  be  wrested  from  a 
man  of  his  vigor.  He  went  to  the  Conference,  then,  reporting 
one  circuit,  one  Society,  and  fifty-eight  members.  His  col- 
leagues, in  the  west  of  New  England,  h#d  been  cheered  by 
visible  success.  Six  circuits  were  reported  bearing  New  En- 
gland names.  The  returns  of  members  in  Society  on  these 
circuits  exhibited  an  aggregate  of  four  hundred  and  eighty-one, 
a  gain  of  three  hundred  on  the  returns  made  eight  months  be- 
fore. The  good  seed,  so  widely  sown  and  laboriously  nurtured, 
had  taken  root  and  was  already  bearing  fruit.  The  experiment 
of  Methodism  in  New  England  was  determined.  Thenceforth 
was  the  new  denomination  to  take  rank  among  the  Christian 
bodies  of  the  Puritan  states,  spreading  the  principles  of  a 
milder  theology  and  a  livelier  piety  through  their  length  and 
breadth. 

We  have  followed  Lee  and  his  fellow-laborers  down  to  the 
end  of  the  ecclesiastical  year  1790-91.  On  the  26th  of  May, 
1791,  the  Conference  assembled  in  New  York  city.  The  Min- 
utes report  the  plan  of  appointments  in  New  England  for  the 
year:  Jesse  Lee,  elder;  Litchfield,  Matthias  Swaim,  James 
Covel;  Fairfield,  Nathaniel  B.  Mills,  Aaron  Hunt;  Middle- 
field,  John  Allen,  George  Koberts;  Hartford,  Lemuel  Smith, 


254  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Menzies  Rainor;  Stockbridge,  Robert  Green;  Lynn,  John 
Bloodgood,  Daniel  Smith.  One  district  and  six  circuits,  four 
in  Connecticut  and  two  in  Massachusetts,  with  eleven  circuit 
preachers  and  one  presiding  elder,  now  constituted  the  minis- 
terial corps  and  field  of  Methodism  in  the  Eastern  States. 

Lee  was  appointed,  as  we  have  seen,  presiding  elder,  with  a 
district  which  comprehended  the  whole  Methodist  interest  in 
New  England,  and  the  recently  formed  circuit  of  Kingston,  in 
Upper  Canada.  He  devoted  his  attention,  however,  chiefly 
to  the  region  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  visiting  but  once  the  Socie- 
ties in  Connecticut.  By  the  latter  part  of  July  he  was  again 
at  Lynn,  and  labored  for  a  month  among  the  neighboring 
towns.  He  then  departed  for  New  Hampshire,  but  has  left  no 
important  record  of  his  journey.  "  I  think,"  he  wrote  on  his 
way  back,  "  the  time  is  near  when  the  work  of  the  Lord  will 
begin  to  revive  in  this  part  of  the  world,  and  if  the  Lord  work 
by  us,  our  good  mistaken  brethren  will  be  brought  to  say, 
'  Send,  Lord,  by  whom  thou  wilt  send.' "  The  next  month  he 
went  to  Rhode  Island,  where  he  projected  a  circuit  in  that 
State,  which  was  recognized  by  the  next  Conference,  and  in- 
cluded most  of  those  beautiful  villages,  on  the  shores  of  Provi- 
dence River  and  Narraganset  Bay,  that  now  sustain  vigorous 
Methodist  Churches.  Again  he  returned  to  Lynn,  but  on  his 
arrival  found  Robert  Bonsai,  "just  come  from  New  York  to 
preach  the  Gospel  in  these  parts."  Lee  could  now  be  spared 
from  the  circuit;  leaving  it,  therefore,  in  the  care  of  Smith 
and  Bonsai,  he  immediately  departed,  proclaiming  the  word 
through  the  interior  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut.  He 
found  a  prosperous  Society  formed  at  Enfield,  and  a  visible 
improvement  in  the  various  appointments  which  he  had  estab- 
lished while  laboring  in  Connecticut.  "  I  see,"  he  says,  "  that 
the  Lord  has  prospered  his  work  ainong  the  Methodists  since 
I  visited  this  part  of  the  vineyard."  In  this  excursion  for  a 
little  more  than  one  month  (thirty- three  days)  he  traveled  five 
hundred  and  seventeen  miles,  and  preached  forty  sermons. 
"  I  have  reason,"  he  says,  on  his  return  to  Lynn,  "  to  hope  that 
the  Lord  has  given  me  fresh  strength  and  courage  to  go  for- 
ward in  his  ways."     During  the  last  fourteen  months  he  had 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  255 

preached  three  hundre.d  and  twenty-one  sermons,  besides  de- 
livering twenty-four  public  exhortations,  and  making  almost 
continual  journeys  into  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode 
Island,  and  Connecticut,  and  still  he  exclaims,  "Forward! 
with  fresh  strength  and  courage." 

A  great  man,  both  in  word  and  deed,  was  this  apostle  of 
Methodism  in  the  East ;  but  a  greater  than  he  passed  through 
these   same    regions   in  the  period  under  review.      Asbury 
entered  Connecticut  on  the  4th  of  June,  1791.     Though  most 
repulsive  vexations  attended  his  visit,  his  notices  of  the  country 
are  expressive  of  that  hopefulness  which  usually  characterizes 
great  minds— minds  conscious  of  the  energy  that  secures  great 
results.     On  arriving  at  Reading,  where  Lee  had  formed  his 
second  class  in  Connecticut,  he  exclaims :  "  I  feel  faith  to  be- 
lieve that  this  visit  to  New  England  will  be  blessed  to  my 
own  soul,  and  the  souls  of  others.     We  are  now  in  Connecti- 
cut, and  never  out  of  sight  of  a  house,  and  sometimes  we  have 
a  view  of  many  churches  and  steeples,  built  very  neatly  of 
wood."     He  moved  on  without  cessation,  preaching,  as  was 
his  wont,  wherever  an  opportunity  offered — in  churches,  when 
allowed;    where   these    were    denied,    in    town-houses;    and 
where  these  were  closed,  in  private  houses.     On  the  7th  he 
arrived  at  Stratford,  the  town  near  which  Lee  formed  his 
first  New  England  Society.     The  time  of  trials  had  not  yet 
passed.     "  Good  news ! "  he  exclaims,  in  a  manner  character- 
istic of  himself;  "  they  have  voted  that  the  town -house  shall 
be  shut.     Well,  where  shall  we  preach?     Some  of  the  select- 
men, one  at  least,  granted  access.    Some  smiled,  some  laughed, 
some  swore,  some  talked,  some  prayed,  some  wept.     Had  it 
been  a  house  of  our  own,  I  should  not  have  been  surprised 
had  the  windows  been  broken.     We  met  the  class,  and  found 
some  gracious  souls.     The  Methodists  have  a  Society,  consist- 
ing of  about  twenty  members,  some  of  them  converted ;  but 
they  have  no  house  of  worship."     On  the  23d  he  reached  Bos- 
ton.   The  prospects  of  Methodism  had  scarcely  improved  there. 
He  records  with  emphasis  his  inhospitable  reception :  "  I  felt 
much  pressed  in  spirit,  as  if  the  door  was  not  open.    As  it  was 
court  time,  we  were  put  to  some  difficulty  in  getting  enter- 


256  HISTORY  OF   THE 

tainment.  It  was  appointed  for  me  to  preach  at  Murray's 
Church — not  at  all  pleasing  to  me,  and  that  which  made  it 
worse  for  me  was,  that  I  had  only  about  twenty  or  thirty 
people  to  preach  to  in  a  large  house.  It  appeared  to  me  that 
those  who  professed  friendship  for  us  were  ashamed  to  publish 
us.  On  Friday  evening  I  preached  again ;  my  congregation 
was  somewhat  larger.  Owing,  perhaps,  to  the  loudness  of 
my  voice,  the  sinners  were  noisy  in  the  streets.  My  subject 
was  Rev.  iii,  17,  18.  I  was  disturbed,  and  not  at  liberty,  al- 
though I  sought  it.  I  have  done  with  Boston  until  we.  can 
obtain  a  lodging,  a  house  to  preach  in,  and  some  to  join  us." 
He  had  faith  in  the  future,  however,  and  the  future  has  justi- 
fied it.  "  The  Methodists,"  he  says,  "  have  no  house,  but  their 
time  may  come."  In  our  day  some  ten  churches,  some  of 
them  among  the  best  ornaments  of  the  city,  are  occupied  by 
his  sons  in  the  ministry,  and  are  more  numerous  than  its  Puri- 
tan churches  at  that  time.  He  tarried  in  Boston  two  days, 
and  left  it  on  the  third  for  Lynn,  where  he  was  "  agreeably 
surprised"  to  find  "a  Methodist  chapel  raised."  After  his  dis- 
couraging reception  in  the  metropolis  he  speaks  with  enthusi- 
asm of  Lynn,  calling  it  the  "  perfection  of  beauty."  He  says, 
"  It  is  seated  on  a  plain,  under  a  range  of  craggy  hills,  and 
open  to  the  sea ;  there  is  a  promising  Society,  an  exceedingly 
well-behaved  congregation;  these  things,  doubtless,  made  all 
pleasing  to  me."  He  adds,  with  prophetic  foresight,  "Here 
we  shall  make  a  firm  stand ;  and  from  this  central  point,  from 
Lynn,  shall  the  light  of  Methodism  and  truth  radiate  through 
the  State."  "  I  feel  as  if  God  would  work  in  these  States,  and 
give  us  a  great  harvest."  And  again  he  predicts  "that  a 
glorious  work  of  God  will  be  wrought  here."  On  the  13th  of 
July  he  set  his  face  toward  the  west,  and  again  we  trace  him 
through  a  rapid  passage,  from  Lynn  to  Springfield,  where,  on 
the  15th,  he  lifted  up  his  voice,  declaring,  "  It  is  time  to  seek 
the  Lord,  till  he  come  and  rain  righteousness  upon  you ;"  the 
people  were  "  moved,"  and  one  individual  was  "  under  deep 
conviction."  He  entered  Connecticut,  and,  after  preaching 
on  the  way,  arrived  at  Hartford  on  the  19th,  where  he  ad- 
dressed an  assembly  from  u  Blessed  is  he,  whosoever  shall  not 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  257 

be  offended  in  me."  He  continued  his  route  through  Corn- 
wall, New  Britain,  to  Albany,  preaching  by  night  and  by 
day.  Such  was  the  rapid  tour  through  New  England  of  this 
great  apostle  of  American  Methodism.  It  occupied  less  than 
eight  weeks,  but  he  had  proclaimed  his  message  in  Connecti- 
cut, Khode  Island,  and  Massachusetts ;  had  counseled  with 
and  directed  the  few  laborers  in  the  field,  and  had  surveyed  it 
sufficiently  to  guide  him  in  his  subsequent  plans  respecting  it. 
He  left  New  England  with  this  reflection :  "lam  led  to  think 
the  eastern  Church  will  find  this  saying  hold  true  in  the 
Methodists,  namely,  'I  will  provoke  you  to  jealousy  by  them 
that  are  no  people,  and  by  a  foolish  nation  I  will  anger 
you.'" 

Thus  much  have  we  been  able  to  ascertain  respecting  the 
laborers  and  labors  of  the  ecclesiastical  year,  from  May,  1791, 
to  August,  1792.  What  were  the  results?  We  have  but 
obscure  intimations  in  the  slight  records  of  the  times,  but 
enough  to  show  that  it  was  the  most  prosperous  of  the  three 
years  which  had  passed  since  the  introduction  of  Methodism 
into  New  England.  Extensive  revivals  had  occurred  in  sev- 
eral sections  of  the  country.  Lee  informs  us  "  that  there  was 
a  considerable  awakening  among  the  people  in  different 
places,  not  far  from  Lynn ;"  that  a  door  was  opened  for  the 
outspread  of  Methodism  through  the  Eastern  States ;  that  in- 
vitations for  preachers  multiplied  in  various  directions ;  and, 
notwithstanding  the  general  prejudice  against  the  new  Church, 
its  members  increased  both  in  numbers  and  respectability. 
The  circuits  in  Connecticut  had  been  blessed  with  much  pros- 
perity. Of  Reading,  Asbury  remarks :  "  God  has  wrought 
wonders  in  this  town ;  the  spirit  of  prayer  is  among  the  people, 
and  several  souls  have  been  brought  to  God."  On  the  Hart- 
ford Circuit  an  extensive  reformation  had  prevailed.  Demon- 
strations of  the  divine  Spirit,  like  those  witnessed  in  the  days 
of  Edwards  and  Whitefield,  were  again  common  among  the 
towns  on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut.  At  Tolland  and 
the  neighboring  villages  the  interest  was  especially  profound. 
Asbury  estimates  that  one  hundred  and  fifty  souls  were  con- 
verted there,  and  that  twice  the  number  were  under  awaken- 

17 


258  HISTORY   OF    THE 

ings  in  the  Societies  around.  "  I  felt,"  lie  says,  "  very  solemn 
among  them.  Brothers  Smith  and  Kainor  have  been  owned 
of  the  Lord  in  these  parts."  He  also  speaks  of  a  "  melting 
among  the  people,"  at  Pittsfield,  where  the  "Lord  was  at 
work."  About  two  hundred  had  been  converted  since  the 
last  Conference  on  the  Albany  district,  which  extended  over 
this  part  of  Massachusetts. 

Three  additional  circuits,  wholly  or  partly  in  New  England, 
were  reported  this  year,  and  the  number  of  members  returned 
from  circuits  bearing  New  England  names  was  one  thousand 
three  hundred  and  fifty-eight,  showing  a  gain  of  nearly  nine 
hundred  for  the  year.  The  few  and  scattered  itinerants  had 
made  full  proof  of  their  ministry.  Though  still  subjected  to 
severe  privations  and  annoying  vexations,  a  goodly  multitude 
of  renewed  souls  now  greeted  and  befriended  them  in  their 
travels,  and  welcomed  them,  after  the  fatigues  of  the  day,  to 
humble  but  comfortable  and  consecrated  homes.  A  Methodist 
people  had  been  raised  up ;  few,  indeed,  and  feeble,  but  never 
to  cease,  we  may  trust,  till  the  heavens  and  the  earth  are  no 
more. 

Lee  arrived  in  Lynn,  from  his  excursion  to  Connecticut,  in 
the  early  part  of  May,  1792.  He  continued  his  labors  in  that 
town  and  its  vicinity  till  the  first  week  in  August — a  period 
memorable  in  the  history  of  the  denomination  as  the  date  of 
the  first  Conference  held  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  and  the 
first  in  New  England.  The  preceding  ecclesiastical  year  had 
included  more  than  fourteen  months.  After  so  long  a  separa- 
tion, and  untold  privations,  labors,  and  sufferings,  it  was,  in- 
deed, a  "holy  convocation,"  a  high  festival,  for  the  little 
company  of  itinerants,  to  meet  in  their  first  Conference.  They 
assembled,  as  was  befitting,  in  the  first,  and  still  unfinished, 
Methodist  Chapel  of  Massachusetts.  Asbury,  who  had  now 
returned,  speaks  of  it  as  a  matter  of  congratulation,  that  "in 
Lynn  we  had  the  outside  of  a  house  completed."  Had  we 
the  necessary  data,  it  would  be  a  grateful  task  to  paint 
the  picture  of  that  first  and  memorable  convention  of  New 
England  Methodist  preachers.  We  are  able,  however,  to  catch 
but  a  glimpse  of  it.     We  know  the  number,  but  hardly  the 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  259 

names,  of  those  who  were  present.  "  Our  Conference,"  says 
Asbury,  "  met,  consisting  of  eight  persons,  much  united,  be- 
sides myself."  Asbury  is  himself  the  most  imposing  figure  in 
the  group.  He  was  yet  short  of  fifty  years  of  age,  and  in  the 
maturity  of  his  physical  and  intellectual  strength ;  his  person 
was  slight,  but  vigorous  and  erect ;  his  eye  stern,  but  bright ; 
his  brow  began  to  show  those  wrinkles,  the  effects  of  extraor- 
dinary cares  and  fatigues,  which  afterward  formed  so  marked 
a  feature  of  his  strongly  characteristic  face ;  his  countenance 
was  expressive  of  decision,  sagacity,  benignity,  and  was  shaded, 
at  times,  by  an  aspect  of  deep  anxiety,  if  not  dejection ;  his 
attitude  was  dignified,  if  not  graceful ;  his  voice  sonorous  and 
commanding.  By  his  side  sat  Lee,  second  only  in  the  ranks 
of  the  ministry,  for  labors  and  travels,  to  its  great  leader.  He 
was  about  the  period  of  middle  age,  stout,  athletic,  full  of 
vigor  of  muscle  and  feeling.  His  face  was  strongly  marked 
by  shrewdness,  tenderness,  and  cheerfulness,  if  not  humor  ;  his 
manners,  by  unpretending  dignity,  remarkable  temperance  in 
debate,  and  fervid  piety,  mixed  frequently,  however,  with  vivid 
sallies  of  wit,  and  startling  repartees.  This  trait  of  bonhomie 
was  not  without  its  advantages  ;  it  gave  him  access  to  the  pop- 
ular mind,  and  relieved  the  peculiar  trials  of  his  ministry.  No 
man  of  less  cheerful  temperament  could  have  brooked  the 
chilling  treatment  he  encountered  while  traveling  the  New 
England  States  without  a  colleague  and  without  sympathy. 
This  solitariness  in  a  strange  land,  often  without  the  stimulus 
of  even  persecution,  but  rendered  doubly  chilling  by  universal 
indifference  or  frigid  politeness,  was  one  of  the  strongest  tests 
of  his  character.  Those  only  can  appreciate  it  who  have  en- 
dured it.  He  sat  in  the  little  band  of  his  fellow-laborers  with 
a  cheerful  aspect,  for  though  he  had  gone  forth  weeping,  bear- 
ing precious  seed,  it  was  now  springing  up,  and  whitening  for 
the  harvest,  over  the  land.  If  it  had  been  but  as  "  a  handful 
of  corn  in  the  earth,  upon  the  top  of  the  mountains,"  it  now 
promised  that  "  the  fruit  thereof  would  yet  shake  like  Leba- 
non." In  the  group  sat  also  the  young  and  eloquent  Hope 
Hull,  the  Summerfield  of  the  time,  attractive  with  the  beauty 
of  talent  and  of  holiness ;  "  that  extraordinary  young  man,"  as 


260  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Thomas  Ware  called  him,  "  under  whose  discourses  the  peo- 
ple were  as  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  potter."  Asbury  brought 
him,  on  his  tour  to  this  Conference,  from  the  South,  where  he 
had  been  persecuted  out  of  Savannah.  There  were,  also,  the 
youthful  and  talented  Rainor,  fresh  from  the  revivals  on  Hart- 
ford Circuit,  and  undiverted  yet  from  the  labors  of  the  itin- 
erancy by  the  love  of  ease  or  domestic  comfort,  which  was 
afterward  too  strong  for  him,  and  Allen,  the  "  Boanerges,'1  as 
his  brethren  called  him.  Besides  these,  it  is  probable  that 
Lemuel  Smith  and  Jeremiah  Cosden  were  present. 

Asbury  introduced  the  occasion  by  a  discourse  on  1  John 
iv,  1-6.  On  Saturday  he  preached  an  ordination  sermon  to  a 
"  very  solemn  congregationi"  There  was  preaching  every 
night  during  the  session.  The  Sabbath  "was  the  last  day, 
that  great  day  of  the  feast."  A  love-feast  was  held  in  the 
morning,  after  which  Asbury  preached  on  1  Corinthians  vi, 
19,  20.  In  the  afternoon  John  Allen  preached,  and  the  bishop 
gave  a  "  farewell  exhortation  "  to  the  people,  who  were  deeply 
affected  at  his  parting  counsels.  The  next  day  he  was  away 
again,  "  making  a  hasty  flight,"  as  usual,  and  in  four  days  he 
had  passed  over  one  hundred  and  seventy  miles,  on  his  way  to 
other  Conferences. 

Lee  was  appointed  this  year  presiding  elder  over  a  district 
that  included  eastern  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island,  and 
the  principal  points  of  which  were  Lynn,  Boston,  ISTeedham, 
and  Providence.  The  General  Conference  was  to  convene  on 
the  first  of  the  ensuing  November,  in  Baltimore.  But  a  brief 
interval  of  time  remained,  therefore,  before  it  would  be  neces- 
sary for  him  to  depart  on  his  journey  thither.  He  projected, 
however,  a  tour  to  Rhode  Island,  to  attend  to  the  further 
organization  of  the  new  Providence  Circuit,  which  he  had  sur- 
veyed in  his  previous  visit,  and  to  which  a  preacher  was 
assigned  at  the  Conference  of  this  year.  In  a  few  days  after 
the  adjournment  of  that  body  he  was  on  his  way  thither.  He 
visited  Providence,  Pawtuxet,  Warren,  and  Bristol,  preaching 
continually,  putting  in  train  the  labors  of  the  circuit  for  the 
newly  arrived  laborer,  and  re-entering  Massachusetts  after 
about  one  week's  absence.     On  the  20th  he  was  in  Boston, 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  261 

and,  at  night,  met  the  little  class  "  which,"  he  writes,  "  has 
been  lately  formed."  In  his  history  he  records  with  exactness 
the  date  of  its  organization.  "We  had  preached,"  he  says, 
"  a  long  time  in  Boston  before  we  formed  a  Society,  but  on  the 
13th  day  of  July,  1792,  we  joined  a  few  in  Society,  and  after 
a  short  time  they  began  to  increase  in  numbers.  "We  met  with 
uncommon  difficulties  here  from  the  beginning,  for  the  want 
of  a  convenient  house  to  preach  in.  "We  began  in  private 
houses,  and  could  seldom  keep  possession  of  them  long.  At 
last  we  obtained  liberty  to  hold  meetings  in  a  school-house, 
but  that  too  was  soon  denied  us.  "We  then  rented  a  chamber 
in  the  north  end  of  the  town,  where  we  continued  to  meet  a 
considerable  time  regularly.  The  Society  then  undertook  to 
get  them  a  meeting-house,  but  being  poor,  and  but  few  in 
number,  they  could  do  but  little."  Three  years  were  yet  to 
pass  before  the  corner-stone  of  their  first  chapel  could  be  laid. 
The  next  month  he  spent  mostly  in  Lynn.  He  says  :  "  Mon- 
day, 1st  of  October,  I  visited  several  friends  in  Lynn,  and  at 
night  I  preached  my  farewell  sermon,  on  Phil,  i,  27 :  *  Only 
let  your  conversation  be  as  becometh  the  Gospel  of  Christ: 
that  whether  I  come  to  see  you,  or  else  be  absent,  I  may  hear 
of  your  affairs,  and  that  ye  stand  fast  in  one  spirit,  with  one 
mind.'  The  Lord  was  with  us  of  a  truth ;  there  was  great 
weeping  among  the  people,  both  men  and  women."  "With  the 
leave-taking  of  Lee  we  must  also  take  leave,  for  the  present, 
of  New  England  ;  but  in  thus  reaching  the  limit  of  our  pres- 
ent period,  we  perceive  that  his  mission  has  been  decisively 
successful.  The  tenacity  of  his  purpose,  the  persistence  of  his 
zeal,  have  at  last  triumphed.  Methodism  has  effectively  taken 
its  place  in  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  the  Puritan  States,  and 
the  name  of  its  resolute  pioneer  must  forever  live  in  the  rec- 
ords which '  commemorate  those  of  the  Mathers,  Williams, 
Edwards,  Channing,  Ballou.  The  returns  in  the  Minutes  at 
the  end  of  the  conference  year  exhibit  an  advance  in  the 
membership  of  more  than  one  fourth  on  the  number  of  the 
preceding  report.  Four  years  had  not  yet  elapsed  since  the 
formation  of  the  first  Society  at  Stratfield  ;  the  numerical  gain 
of  the  infant  Church  thus  far  had  been  at  the  average  rate  of 


262  HISTORY   OF   THE 

at  least  435  per  year,  no  small  growth  under  the  inauspicious 
circumstances  of  the  times.  A  consciousness  of  the  security 
and  prospective  success  of  their  cause  had  spread  through  all 
their  ranks,  and  while  the  violent  and  prejudiced  began  to 
deem  it  time  for  hostilities,  the  disinterested  and  devout  began 
to  open  their  hearts  and  their  houses  to  welcome  the  itinerant 
evangelists  as  the  "  blessed  "  who  "  came  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord,"  the  men  who  "  showed  the  way  of  salvation."  Not 
only  had  their  numbers  augmented,  but  the  field  of  travel  and 
labor  had  extended  in  every  direction.  The  number  of  cir- 
cuits and  stations  had  increased  from  nine  to  fourteen,  and 
Lee  began  to  cast  his  eye  abroad  for  a  new  and  more  distant 
arena.  He  went  to  the  Conference,  determined  to  offer  him- 
self as  a  missionary  to  the  "  province  of  Maine,"  then  a  remote 
wilderness.  Thither  we  shall  hereafter  follow  him,  to  witness 
continued  exhibitions  of  the  moral  heroism  of  his  character 
while  braving  the  inclemencies  and  perils  of  a  new  country, 
and  achieving  the  sublime  task  of  founding  a  religious  organ- 
ization which  was  to  scatter,  in  our  day,  more  than  four  hun- 
dred traveling  and  local  preachers  among  its  villages  and 
cities,  and  enroll  in  them  nearly  twenty-five  thousand 
members. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  263 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

SUMMARY    REVIEW:  1785-1792. 

After  the  General  Conference  of  1784  the  Annual  Confer- 
ences lose  much  of  their  historical  importance.  The  organic 
measures  of  that  session  rendered  much  additional  legislation 
unnecessary  for  a  number  of  years.  Down  to  that  momentous 
assembly  the  two  or  more  annual  sessions  were  understood  to 
be  but  one  Conference,  holding  adjourned  meetings.  The 
Church,  invigorated  by  its  more  thorough  organization,  now 
rapidly  enlarged,  and  its  Conferences  multiplied.  They  were 
no  longer  considered  to  be  adjourned  sessions  of  the  same 
body.  But  few  grave  matters  of  legislation  were  brought 
under  their  attention.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  any  such 
matters  were,  as  heretofore,  submitted  to  the  vote  of  each  Con- 
ference before  they  were  inserted  in  the  laws  of  the  denomina- 
tion. A  vague  expectation  of  another  General  Conference 
seems  to  have  been  entertained,  and  important  measures, 
which  at  any  time  appeared  desirable,  were  mostly  held  in 
reserve  for  such  a  session.  In  the  course  of  a  few  years,  a 
general  Council,  the  semblance  of  a  General  Conference,  was 
attempted,  and  its  failure  providentially  led  to  a  regular  Quad- 
rennial Conference,  which  has  ever  since  been  the  supreme 
body  of  the  Church.  The  Minutes  of  these  eight  years  afford 
but  few  items  of  historical  interest.  The  only  one  recorded 
in  1785  is  the  suspension  of  the  rules  on  slavery,  accompanied, 
however,  with  the  bold  declaration  that  "  we  do  hold  in  the 
deepest  abhorrence  the  practice  of  slavery,  and  shall  not  cease 
to  seek  its  destruction  by  all  wise  and  prudent  means."  In 
1786  the  Minutes  record  nothing  besides  the  usual  routine 
questions  and  answers,  and  a  few  financial  notices.  In  the 
ensuing  year  it  is  ordered  that  the  children  of  the  congrega- 
tions shall  be  formed  into  classes  ;  that  register  books  shall  be 


264  HISTORY    OF   THE 

provided  by  the  Societies  for  the  record  of  baptisms  and  mar- 
riages, and  an  emphatic  injunction  on  the  preachers  to  leave 
nothing  undone  for  the  spiritual  benefit  and  salvation  "  of  the 
colored  people  "  is  inserted.  We  find  in  the  Minutes  of  1788 
official  provision  made  for  the  publication  of  books  for  the 
Church.  John  Dickins  is  appointed  to  Philadelphia,  and  de- 
signated as  the  "  Book  Steward  ; "  and  Philip  Cox  is  left  with- 
out a  circuit,  as  "  Book  Steward  "  at  large.  The  diffusion  of 
religious  literature  had  evidently  become  an  important  consid* 
eration  with  the  Conference.  The  necessity  of  a  General  Con- 
ference was  now  univerally  felt,  but  it  seemed  impossible  to 
assemble  the  preachers,  so  widely  dispersed  over  the  country. 
The  bishops  therefore  proposed,  in  the  sessions  of  this  year, 
the  plan  of  a  "  Council,"  to  be  composed  of  "  chosen  men, 
out  of  the  several  districts,  as  representatives  of  the  whole  con- 
nection." The  bishops  were  to  have  authority  to  convene  the 
Council  at  their  discretion,  and  its  first  meeting  was  appointed 
for  the  first  day  of  December,  at  Cokesbury  College.  It  held 
two  sessions,  in  1789  and  1790 ;  and  appointed  a  third  for 
1792,  but  the  general  opposition  to  it  compelled  the  bishops  to 
consent  to  substitute  in  its  place  a  General  Conference  in  the 
latter  year.  From  the  Christmas  Conference  to  the  sessions  of 
1790 — somewhat  more  than  five  years — the  statistical  progress 
of  the  Church  was  remarkable.  The  returns  of  the  year,  which 
was  closed  by  the  Christmas  Conference,  showed  about  fifteen 
thousand  members,  (14,988,)  and  eighty-three  preachers;  the 
returns  of  the  year  1790  amounted  to  more  than  fifty-seven 
thousand  six  hundred  (57,631)  members,  and  two  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  preachers.  The  gains  for  these  few  years  were, 
therefore,  more  than  forty-two  thousand  six  hundred  (42,643) 
members,  and  one  hundred  and  forty-four  preachers.  Estima- 
ting this  period  at  six  years,  it  yields  an  average  annual  growth 
of  more  than  seven  thousand  one  hundred  members,  and  of 
twenty-four  preachers.  The  latter  item  needs,  however,  very 
considerable  qualification,  for  only  the  preachers  actually  on  the 
list  of  appointments  are  reported;  there  is  yet  no  supernume- 
rary or  superannuated  list ;  and  many  every  year  retired  from 
the  itinerancy.     Nearly  all  these  entered  the  ranks  of  the  local 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  265 

ministry,  and  continued  to  be  habitual  preachers!  At  least 
twenty-eight  thus  disappeared  from  the  Minutes  in  the  interval 
between  the  Christmas  Conference  and  the  year  1790  ;  and 
besides  these,  not  a  few  who  were  received  on  trial  were  not 
admitted  into  membership  with  the  conferences,  but  were 
remanded  to  the  local  ranks,  where  they  nevertheless  did  good 
service.  We  may  safely  estimate  the  increase  of  the  ministry, 
in  this  brief  interval,  at  one  hundred  and  seventy-five,  giving 
an  annual  average  gain  of  nearly  thirty.  If  we  pass  on,  two 
years  further,  to  the  end  of  our  present  period,  we  meet  an 
equally  gratifying  result.  The  aggregate  returns  for  1792  (all 
made  before  the  session  of  the  General  Conference)  swell  to 
nearly  sixty-six  thousand  (65,980)  members,  and  two  hundred 
and  sixty-six  preachers.  The  gains,  then,  since  the  returns  last 
preceding  the  Christmas  Conference,  were  nearly  fifty-one 
thousand  (50,992)  members,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty-three 
preachers.  Estimating  the  interval  at  eight  years,  it  exhibits 
an  average  annual  gain  of  more  than  six  thousand  three  hun- 
dred members,  (6,374,)  and  of  about  twenty-three  preachers. 
Qualifying  the  latter  item,  as  above,  the  average  ministerial 
gain  must  have  been  somewhat  more  than  thirty. 

Such  was  the  statistical  strength  of  American  Methodism 
when  its  second  General  Conference  assembled  in  Baltimore, 
in  about  eight  years  after  its  organization  in  that  city,  as 
u  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States." 
Most  of  its  founders  were  still  living  :  Barbara  Heck,  Captain 
Webb,  King,  Watters,  Gatch,  Pilmoor,  and  Shadford. 

About  nineteen  years  had  passed  since  its  first  Annual  Con- 
ference was  held  in  Philadelphia,  when  its  first  general  statis- 
tical returns  were  made.  It  then  reported  eleven  hundred  and 
sixty  members,  and  ten  preachers  ;  it  had  gained  in  the  nine- 
teen years  nearly  sixty-five  thousand  (64,680)  members,  and 
two  hundred  and  fifty-six  preachers.  Its  average  annual  gains 
had  been  more  than  thirty-four  hundred  (3,411)  members,  and 
more  than  thirteen  preachers.  There  had  been  but  two  years 
in  which  the  Minutes  record  a  decrease  of  members :  the  first 
was  1778,  when  the  Eevolutionary  War  raged  without,  and 
the    sacramental    controversy   within    the    Church — the   loss 


Zm  HISTOKY    OF    THE 

amounted  'to  eight  hundred  and  seventy-three  members,  and 
five  preachers ;  the  second  was  1780,  the  culmination  of  the 
sacramental  contest,  when  a  loss  of  seventy-three  members 
was  reported.  It  sterritorial  extension  had  not  only  kept  pace 
with  the  settlement  of  the  country,  but  had  transcended  it ; 
for  Methodism  was  now  established  permanently  in  Nova 
Scotia  and  Upper  Canada.  At  its  first  Conference  of  1773  it 
reported  but  six  circuits,  reaching  along  a  narrow  line  from 
]N"ew  York  city  to  Petersburg,  Ya.  It  now  reported  a  hun- 
dred and  thirty-six,  extending  from  beyond  the  St.  Lawrence,  to 
Savannah,  Ga. ;  from  Lynn,  Mass.,  to  the  most  western  settle- 
ments of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  The  whole  settled  coun- 
try was  threaded  with  them.  Seventeen  Conferences  were 
held  in  1792,  and  twenty  appointed  for  the  next  year,  five  at 
least  of  the  latter  beyond  the  Alleghanies. 

In  the  Conference  of  1773  all  the  preachers  save  one,  Wil- 
liam Watters,  were  foreigners ;  but  since  the  Christmas  Con- 
ference "Wesley  had  dispatched  no  "  missionaries  "  to  America. 
All  his  former  missionaries,  except  Asbury  and  Whatcoat,  had 
returned  to  Europe ;  but  American  Methodism  had  now  its 
native  ministry,  numerous  and  vigorous.  Besides  Asbury, 
Coke,  and  Whatcoat,  it  still  retained  many  of  the  great  evan- 
gelists it  had  thus  far  raised  up:  Garrettson,  Lee,  Abbott, 
O'Kelly,  Crawford,  Burke,  Poythress,  Bruce,  Breeze,  Eeed, 
Cooper,  Everett,  Willis,  Wilson  Lee,  Dickins,  Ware,  Brush, 
Moriarty,  Roberts,  Hull,  Losee,  and  others.  A  host  of  mighty 
men,  who  will  hereafter  claim  our  attention,  had  recently 
joined  these  standard-bearers:  M'Kendree,  George,  (both 
afterward  bishops,)  Roszel,  JSTolley,  M'Gee,  Smith,  Gibson, 
M'Henry,  Kobler,  Fleming,  Cook,  Scott,  Wells,  Pickering, 
Sharp,  Bostwick,  M'Claskey,  M'Combs,  Bartine,  Morrell,  Tay- 
lor, Hunt,  and  scores  more.  These  were  to  be  soon  followed, 
or  rather  joined,  by  another  host  of  as  strong,  if  not  stronger 
representative  men  :  Roberts,  Hedding,  Soule,  Bangs,  Merwin, 
Capers,  Pierce,  Winans,  Kennon,  Kenneday,  Douglass,  Red- 
man, Thornton,  Finley,  Cartwright,  Elliott,  and  many  others 
equal  to  them ;  and  amid  an  army  of  such  were  to  arise  in  due 
time,  to  give  a  new  intellectual  development  to  the  ministry, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  267 

such  characters  as  Emory,  Fisk,  Enter,  Summerfield,  Bascom, 
Olin,  and  many  others,  some  surviving  into  our  day,  men  of 
not  only  denominational  but  of  national  recognition.  Extra- 
ordinary indeed,  a  study  full  of  inexpressible  interest  and  pro- 
found lessons,  is  the  history  of  that  singular  ministerial  system 
of  Methodism  which  we  call  the  itinerancy.  The  development 
of  character,  of  energy  and  success  which  it  has  revealed  thus 
far  in  our  narrative  cannot  fail  to  astonish  us.  Down  to  the 
final  period  of  this  record  we  shall  find  it  as  potent  as  ever. 
Its  roll  is  glorious  with  heroes  and  martyrs.  What  clerical 
men  since  the  apostolic  age  ever  traveled  and  labored  like 
these  %  What  public  men  ever  sacrificed  equally  with  them 
the  ordinary  comforts  of  life?  Their  salaries  or  "  allowance" 
(for  they  disclaimed  the  word  salary)  scarcely  provided  them 
with  clothes.  Asbury's  allowance  was  sixty-four  dollars  a  year. 
His  horses  and  carriages  were  given  by  his  friends,  all  dona- 
tions of  money  from  whom  he  assigned  to  his  fellow-sufferers, 
his  fellow-laborers.  At  one  of  the  early  Western  Conferences, 
where  the  assembled  itinerants  presented  painful  evidences  of 
want,  he  parted  with  his  watch,  his  coat,  and  his  shirts  for 
them.  He  was  asked  by  a  friend  to  lend  him  fifty  pounds. 
"  He  might  as  well  have  asked  me  for  Peru,"  wrote  the  bishop  ; 
"  I  showed  him  all  the  money  I  had  in  the  world,  about  twelve 
dollars,  and  gave  him  frve.^  Most  of  the  early  itinerants  had 
to  locate,  at  last,  on  account  of  their  broken  health,  or  the  suf- 
ferings of  their  families.  Of  six  hundred  and  fifty  whose  names 
appear  in  the  Minutes,  by  the  close  of  the  century,  about  five 
hundred  died  located,  and  many  of  the  remainder  were,  for  a 
longer  or  shorter  interval,  in  the  local  ranks,  but  were  able 
again  to  enter  the  itinerancy.  Nearly  half  of  those  whose 
deaths  are  recorded  died  before  they  were  thirty  years  old ; 
about  two  thirds  died  before  they  had  spent  twelve  years  in 
the  laborious  service.     They  fell  martyrs  to  their  work. 

If  ever  men  presented  the  genuine  credentials  of  Christian 
apostleship  these  men  did.  They  were  enthusiastic,  sublimely 
so,  but  they  were  not  fanatical.  A  remarkable  seemliness  and 
official  decorousness  characterized  them  as  a  body ;  an  ecclesi- 
astical dignity,  which  was  the  more  commanding  for  being 


268  HISTORY    OF    THE 

simple,  unpretentious,  laborious,  and  self-sacrificing.  It  was 
impossible  that  some  eccentric,  perhaps  insane,  minds,  should 
not  be  drawn  into  the  ever- widening  circle  of  their  enthusiastic 
movement ;  but  the  rigorous  discipline  and  exhaustive  labors 
of  the  denomination  controlled  or  expended  their  morbid 
energy ;  or,  if  these  failed,  the  rapid  but  steady  motion  of  its 
ecclesiastical  system  threw  them  off,  and  so  far  off  that  they 
ceased  to  be  dangerous.  Into  whatever  position  they  found 
themselves  thrown — from  the  itinerancy  to  the  local  ministry, 
from  the  conference  to  the  class  meeting — they  found  them- 
selves bound  by  the  tenacious  "rules"  of  the  Discipline. 
Hence,  though  untutored  men,  without  a  single  collegiate 
graduate,  besides  Coke,  in  all  their  ranks  thus  far,  no  import- 
ant doctrinal  heresy  had  yet  disturbed  them.  The  theological 
symbol  of  general  Christendom,  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  the 
Anglican  Articles  as  abridged  by  Wesley,  had  never  before 
had  a  purer  or  more  effective  promulgation  among  the  masses 
of  the  people. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUROH.  269 


CHAPTEE  XIX. 

SECOND   GENERAL   CONFERENCE  —  METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH: 

1792-1796. 

Another  important  event  in  the  history  of  American  Meth- 
odism was  at  hand,  the  second  General  Conference.  The 
first,  called  the  Christmas  Conference,  (in  1784,)  had  been  an 
extraordinary  convention  of  the  ministry,  held,  at  the  instance 
of  Wesley,  for  the  episcopal  organization  of  the  Church.  No 
provision  was  made  for  any  subsequent  similar  assembly.  The 
rapid  multiplication  of  sectional  or  "  annual  conferences  "  facil- 
itated the  local  business  of  the  denomination,  but  rendered 
legislation  on  its  general  interests  difficult,  if  not  impossible. 
Some  other  mode  of  general  legislation  was  therefore  neces- 
sary. The  memorable  assembly  of  1784  presented  the  expe- 
dient example,  and  accordingly  a  General  Conference  was 
called  for  1792. 

Bishop  Coke  had  left  America,  in  May,  1791,  on  receiving 
the  news  of  Wesley's  death,  and  was  absent  about  a  year  and 
a  half.  By  the  31st  October,  1792,  he  was  again  in  Baltimore, 
where  the  General  Conference  began  on  the  1st  of  November. 
We  have  no  "  official "  record  of  its  proceedings ;  but  Jesse 
Lee,  who  was  present,  has  preserved  an  outline  of  its  most  im- 
portant doings.  He  represents  the  gathering  of  preachers  as 
numerous ;  "  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States  where  we  had 
any  circuits  formed."  The  first  day  was  spent  in  considering 
the  rules  of  the  house.  On  the  second,  O'Kelly  introduced  a 
motion  affecting  radically  the  power  of  the  episcopate,  and  in- 
directly reflecting  on  the  administration  of  Asbury ;  it  absorb- 
ed all  attention  for  nearly  a  week,  so  that  the  revision  of  the 
Discipline,  and  the  most  needed  legislation  of  the  session,  did 
not  begin  till  Tuesday,  the  6th. 

On  that  day,  of  the  second  week,  began  the  revision  of  the 


270  HISTORY   OF    THE 

Discipline.  Eegular  General  Conferences  were  ordained,  and 
the  Annual  Conferences  were  distinguished,  from  these  quad- 
rennial assemblies,  by  the  title  of  "  District  Conferences,"  as 
it  was  determined  to  hold  one  of  them  for  each  presiding 
elder's  district.  The  office  of  presiding  elder  took,  for  the 
first  time,  a  definitive  form,  and  the  title  appears  for  the  first 
time  in  the  Discipline.  Several  minute  regulations  were 
adopted.  In  their  preface  to  the  next  edition  the  bishops  say : 
"  We  have  made  some  little  alterations  in  the  present  edition, 
yet  such  as  affect  not  in  any  degree  the  essentials  of  our 
doctrines  and  discipline.  We  think  ourselves  obliged  fre- 
quently to  view  and  review  the  whole  order  of  our  Church, 
always  aiming  at  perfection,  standing  on  the  shoulders  of 
those  who  have  lived  before  us,  and  taking  advantage  of  our 
former  selves." 

But  the  chief  subject  of  its  deliberations  was  the  proposition 
of  O'Kelly  to  so  abridge  the  episcopal  prerogative  that, 
u  after  the  bishop  appoints  the  preachers,  at  conference,  to 
their  several  circuits,  if  any  one  thinks  himself  injured  by  the 
appointment  he  shall  have  liberty  to  appeal  to  the  Conference 
and  state  his  objections ;  and  if  the  Conference  approve  his 
objections,  the  bishop  shall  appoint  him  to  another  circuit." 
The  motion  was  obviously  a  reflection  on  his  administration, 
but  he  bore  it  with  admirable  magnanimity.  Having  secured 
the  organization  of  the  body,  with  Coke  for  moderator,  he 
retired  anxious  and  sick,  but  his  "  soul  breathing  unto  God, 
and  exceedingly  happy  in  his  love."  The  discussion,  as  we 
have  seen,  occupied  nearly  a  week ;  it  was  the  first  of  those 
great  parliamentary  debates  which  have  given  pre-eminence  to 
the  deliberative  talent  of  the  body.  It  was  led  chiefly  by 
O'Kelly,  Ivey,  Hull,  Garrettson,  and  Swift  for  the  affirmative, 
and  by  Willis,  Lee,  Morrell,  Everett,  and  Keed  for  the 
negative,  all  chieftains  of  the  itinerancy  and  eloquent  preachers. 
Coke,  however  anxious  for  the  issue  of  the  controversy,  sat  in 
the  chair  rapt  in  admiration  of  the  talent  it  elicited.  "  On 
Monday,"  says  Lee,  "we  began  the  debate  afresh,  and  con- 
tinued it  through  the  day;  and  at  night  we  went  to  Otter- 
bein's    church,   and   again   continued   it   till   near   bedtime, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  271 

when  the  vote  was  taken,  and  the  motion  was  lost  by  a  large 
majority." 

The  next  morning,  after  the  decision  of  the  question,  the 
Conference  was  startled  by  a  letter  from  O'Kelly  and  "  a  few 
other  preachers,"  declaring  that  they  could  no  longer  retain 
their  seats  in  the  body,  "  because  the  appeal  was  not  allowed." 
A  committee  of  preachers  was  immediately  appointed  to  wait 
upon  them  and  persuade  them  to  resume  their  seats.  G-arrett- 
son,  who  had  taken  sides  with  them  in  the  controversy,  was  on 
this  committee.  "  Many  tears,"  he  says,  "  were  shed,  but  we 
were  not  able  to  reconcile  him  to  the  decision  of  the  Con- 
ference.     His  wound  was  deep,  and  apparently  incurable." 

After  the  withdrawal  of  O'Kelly  peace  and  the  old  brotherly 
spirit  again  pervaded  the  Conference.  On  Thursday,  the 
fifteenth  and  last  day,  the  business  being  ended,  Coke  preached 
before  the  Conference.  He  left  the  city  with  a  higher  estimate 
of  the  American  itinerants  than  he '  had  ever  formed  before. 
"I  had  always  entertained  very  high  ideas  of  the  piety  and 
zeal  of  the  American  preachers,  and  of  the  considerable 
abilities  of  many ;  but  I  had  no  expectation,  I  confess,  that  the 
debates  would  be  carried  on  in  so  very  masterly  a  manner ;  so 
that  on  every  question  of  importance  the  subject  seemed  to  be 
considered  in  every  possible  light."  O'Kelly  returned  to 
Virginia  prepared  to  upturn  the  foundations  he  had  helped  to 
lay.  Asbury  hastened  thither  also,  and  held  a  conference  in 
Manchester.  Already  O'Kelly  had  begun  his  pernicious 
work ;  some  of  the  most  devoted  people  and  preachers  had 
been  disaffected ;  and,  in  this  day,  we  are  startled  to  read  that 
William  M'Kendree,  afterward  one  of  the  saintliest  bishops  of 
the  Church,  and  Rice  Haggard,  sent  to  Asbury  "  their  resigna- 
tions in  writing."  It  was  a  period  of  general  excitement  in 
Virginia  by  the  political  contests  of  the  Republicans  and 
Federalists,  the  former  being  the  dominant  party.  O'Kelly 
adroitly  availed  himself  of  these  party  agitations,  and  formed 
his  associates  into  a  Church  with  the  title  of  "Republican 
Methodists."  Their  organization  gave  them  a  temporary 
power,  and  disastrous  results  followed.  They  held  "con 
ference  after  conference,"  devising  a  system  of  Church  govern- 


272  HISTORY   OF   THE 

merit;  but  insubordination  reigned  among  them.  In  1793 
they  had  a  number  of  Societies.  "  The  divisive  spirit,"  says 
Lee,  "  prevailed  more  in  the  south  parts  of  Virginia  than  in 
any  other  place.  There  were  some  of  our  Societies  in  the 
northeast  part  of  North  Carolina  who  felt  the  painful  effects 
of  the  division,  and  were  considerably  scattered  and  greatly 
injured.  Several  of  our  local  preachers  and  many  of  our 
private  members  were  drawn  off  from  us,  and  turned  against 
us.  The  Societies  were  brought  into  such  troubles  and  dif- 
ficulties that  they  knew  not  what  to  do.  It  was  enough 
to  make  the  saints  of  God  weep  between  the  porch  and  the 
altar,  and  that  both  day  and  night,  to  see  how  'the  Lord's 
flock  was  carried  away  captive '  by  that  division." 

In  1793  they  held  a  conference  in  Mannakin  Town,  Ya., 
the  scene  of  a  former  dissentient  Methodist  assembly  in  the 
famous  "sacramental  controversy."  They  there  framed  a 
constitution,  and  O'Kelly,  as  their  leader,  ordained  their 
preachers.  In  1801  they  discarded  their  laws  and  title,  and 
assumed  the  name  of  "  The  Christian  Church,"  renouncing  all 
rules  of  Church  government  but  the  New  Testament,  as  inter- 
preted by  every  man  for  himself.  It  was  impossible,  however, 
that  a  schism  so  badly  managed  could  long  succeed.  It  broke 
into  parties ;  several  of  its  preachers  fell  away  from  it,  and 
formed  a  new  "  plan  of  their  own  in  Charlotte  County,  Ya. ;" 
many  individual  members  and  preachers,  tired  of  the  conflict, 
sought  peace  again  in  the  parent  Church ;  and  Lee,  writing  in 
1809,  says :  "  They  have  been  divided  and  subdivided,  till  at 
present  it  is  hard  to  find  two  of  them  that  are  of  one  opinion. 
There  are  now  but  few  of  them  in  that  part  of  Yirginia  where 
they  were  formerly  the  most  numerous ;  and  in  most  places 
they  are  declining."  Ten  years  after  O'Kelly's  revolt  Asbury 
met  him  again  in  Winchester,  Ya.  "  We  met  in  peace,"  says 
the  bishop,  "  asked  of  each  other's  welfare,  talked  of  persons 
and  things  indifferently,  prayed  and  parted  in  peace.  Not  a 
word  was  said  of  the  troubles  of  the  former  times.  Perhaps 
this  is  the  last  interview  we  shall  have  upon  earth."  Bangs 
supposes  this  interview  was  "  near  the  close  of  O'Kelly's  life," 
and  expresses  the  hope  that  he  died  reconciled  and  "  forgiven." 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  273 

Asbury's  Journals,  however,  show  that  for  many  years  later 
the  energetic  seceder  still  fought  his  hopeless  battle.  He 
survived  till  the  16th  of  October,  1826,  when  he  died  in  his 
ninety-second  year,  retaining  "  to  the  latest  period  of  his  life 
unabated  confidence  in  the  purity  and  power  of  his  system." 

Coke  and  Asbury  parted  after  the  General  Conference  of 
1792,  the  former  to  the  north,  and  thence  to  Europe ;  the  lat- 
ter to  the  south,  to  anticipate  any  schismatic  measures  of 
O'Kelly  and  his  associates.  He  held  conferences,  love-feasts, 
class  and  band  meetings,  preaching  once  or  twice  and  riding 
forty  or  fifty  miles  almost  daily.  He  flew  to  all  disturbed 
parts  of  the  field  in  Yirginia,  and  was  successful  in  many, 
though  in  some  he  found  incorrigible  seceders.  !N"ot  a  few 
Societies  were  rent  in  pieces,  and  the  enemies  of  religion  and 
hostile  sectarists  exulted  in  the  hope  of  the  immediate  and 
final  downfall  of  the  denomination  throughout  the  State.  He 
labored  chiefly  to  promote  among  the  distracted  Societies  a 
deeper  religious  feeling,  spiritual  unity,  as  the  best  means  of 
ecclesiastical  harmony.  He  not  only  traveled  and  preached, 
but  wrote  many  letters.  His  usual  correspondence  averaged 
about  a  thousand  a  year,  and  was  a  heavy  burden  added  to 
his  many  other  cares. 

He  hastened  through  North  and  entered  South  Carolina, 
riding  thirty,  forty,  fifty  miles  a  day,  "  hungry,"  and  "  cold," 
for  it  was  now  December,  but  preaching  at  the  close  of  nearly 
every  day's  journey  in  barns,  private  houses,  and,  occasionally, 
new  chapels  of  "logs  or  poles,"  with  "light  and  ventilation 
plenty."  He  was  often  drenched  by  storms  ;  "  the  unfinished 
state  of  the  houses,  lying  on  the  floor,  thin  clothing,  and  in- 
clement weather,  keep  me,"  he  writes,  "  in  a  state  of  indispo- 
sition." In  Sumter  District,  S.  C,  he  found,  by  Christmas 
day,  shelter  in  one  of  those  wealthy  and  hospitable  houses 
which,  like  Perry  Hall,  were  always  open  to  welcome  him  as 
a  prophet  of  God,  at  distant ,  intervals  of  his  great  field. 
"  Although  the  weather,"  he  writes,  "  was  cold  and  damp  and 
unhealthy,  with  signs  of  snow,  we  rode  forty-five  miles  to  dear 
Brother  Kembert's — kind  and  good,  rich  and  liberal,  who  has 
done  more  for  the  poor  Methodists  than  any  man  in  South, 

18 


274  HISTORY   OF   THE 

Carolina.  The  Lord  grant  that  he,  with  his  whole  household, 
may  find  mercy  in  that  day !  "  A  bishop  of  Southern  Meth- 
odism, speaking  of  "  Rembert  Hall,"  so  often  and  so  gratefully 
mentioned  in  Asbury's  Journals,  says :  "  The  proprietor  of 
this  estate,  James  Rembert,  Esq.,  was  a  Methodist  gentleman 
of  large  property,  who  was  strongly  attached  to  Asbury. 
There  was  a  room  in  his  mansion  that  was  appropriated  to 
the  bishop's  use.  Here  he  commonly  spent  a  week  during  his 
annual  visitation  to  South  Carolina.  It  was  a  sweet  haven, 
where  the  weather-beaten  sailor  found  quiet  waters,  and 
bright  skies,  and  a  season  of  repose.  Here  he  brought  up  his 
journal,  wrote  his  letters,  and  lectured  of  an  evening  to  the 
family  and  visitors  and  crowds  of  servants.  Mrs.  Rembert 
was  a  lady  of  the  kindest  heart ;  she  not  only  had  the  bishop's 
apartments  always  ready  and  commodiously  furnished,  but 
every  year  her  seamstress  made  up  for  him  a  full  supply  of 
linen,  which,  neatly  ironed,  awaited  the  arrival  of  the  bishop. 
Rembert  Hall,  in  my  time  on  the  Sumter  Circuit,  was  occu- 
pied by  Caleb  Rembert,  Esq.,  his  honored  father  and  mother 
having  long  before  gone  to  heaven." 

Reaching  Charleston,  he  found  "  the  little  flock  in  peace 
and  a  small  revival  among  them,"  though  here  also  the  Church 
had  been  scathed  by  division.  William  Hammett,  one  of 
Coke's  missionaries  to  the  West  Indies,  had  come  to  the 
United  States,  and  had  taken  charge  of  the  society  in  Charles- 
ton, where  his  remarkable  natural  powers  of  eloquence  soon 
rendered  him  generally  popular.  He  headed  a  secession  from 
the  young  Church  of  the  city  in  1791,  briefly  anticipating 
and  severely  exasperating  the  revolt  of  O'Kelly  and  his  fol- 
lowers in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  Thus  agitation  pre- 
vailed through  much  of  nearly  one  half  of  the  territory  of  the 
Church,  for  the  schismatic  spirit  spread  infectiously,  pam- 
phlets were  published,  letters  written,  personal  visitations 
made  by  disaffected  preachers;  even  the  new  and  feeble 
Churches  beyond  the  Alleghanies  felt  the  evil.  Most  of  Ham- 
mett's  Societies  finally  returned  to  the  parent  Church.  He 
died  in  1803,  about  eleven  years  after  his  secession,  and  the 
schism  became  extinct. 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  275 

In  tliis  southern  tour  Asbury  summed  up  the  Minutes  for 
the  ecclesiastical  year.  "  "We  have,"  he  writes,  "  two  hundred 
and  seventeen  traveling  preachers,  and  about  fifty  thousand 
members  in  the  United  States.  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest ! " 
We  trace  him  among  the  western  mountains  of  North  Caro- 
lina, "  wrestling  with  floods,"  his  food  u  Indian  bread  and  fried 
bacon,"  and  his  "  bed  set  upon  forks,  and  clapboards  laid 
across,  in  an  earthen  floor  cabin."  He  crossed  the  Allegha- 
nies  through  perilous  difficulties,  and  was  again  in  the  Great 
"West,  where  he  spent  about  six  weeks  among  the  emigrant 
settlements  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  convoyed  sometimes 
by  armed  guards,  and  enduring  the  severest  privations  and 
fatigues.  By  the  middle  of  May  he  was  again  among  the 
heights  of  the  Virginia  mountains,  sheltered  in  the  comforta- 
ble home  of  the  widow  of  General  Russell,  the  sister  of  Pat- 
rick Henry,  and  one  of  the  "  elect  ladies  "  of  Methodism. 
The  most  romantic  passages  of  his  journals  are  his  brief  records 
of  his  adventures  among  the  Alleghanies,  and  often  at  the 
close  of  weary  days  does  he  write,  in  log-cabins,  that  so  many 
miles  yet  remain  before  he  can  reach  "  General  Russell's,"  his 
longed-for  resting-place.  He  now  writes  :  u  I  am  very  solemn. 
I  feel  the  want  of  the  dear  man  who,  I  trust,  is  now  in  Abra- 
ham's bosom,  and  hope  ere  long  to  see  him  there.  He  wTas  a 
general  officer  in  the  continental  army,  where  he  underwent 
great  fatigue ;  he  was  powerfully  brought  to  God,  and  for  a 
few  years  past  was  a  living  flame,  and  a  blessing  to  his  neigh- 
borhood. He  went  m  the  dead  of  winter  on  a  visit  to  his 
friends,  was  seized  with  an  influenza,  and  ended  his  life  from 
home.  O  that  the  Gospel  may  continue  in  this  house!  I 
preached  on  Heb.  xii,  1-4,  and  there  followed  several  exhorta- 
tions. We  then  administered  the  sacrament,  and  there  was 
weeping  and  shouting  among  the  people ;  our  exercises  lasted 
about  Hvg  hours."  Such  scenes  often  occurred  there,  for  Mrs. 
Russell  kept  her  mansion  always  open,  not  only  for  the  shelter 
of  the  wayworn  itinerants,  but  as  a  sanctuary  for  the  mount- 
aineer settlers,  who  flocked  thither  from  miles  around  to  hear 
the  Gospel.  "  She  was,"  says  an  itinerant  who  enjoyed  her 
hospitalities,  "  eloquent  like   her  brother,  a  woman  of  exem- 


276  HISTORY    OF   THE 

plary  piety."  Like  most  of  the  Method ist  women  of  her  day, 
she  exhorted  and  prayed  in  public.  Her  home  was  a  light- 
house shining  afar  among  the  Alleghanies. 

By  the  middle  of  June  Asbury  wTas  again  holding  a  confer- 
ence at  Old  Town,  Md.,  but  by  the  middle  of  September,  1793, 
he  re-entered  the  southern  field.  Through  all  sorts  of  hard- 
ships he  again  penetrated  South  Carolina,  to  face  the  trials  of 
Charleston,  where  he  arrived  on  the  20th  of  January,  1794, 
and  spent  nearly  a  month  preaching,  visiting  from  house  to 
house,  and  confirming  the  Church.  On  the  18th  of  June 
he  once  more  found  genial  shelter  in  Baltimore,  then  the 
head-quarters  of  all  his  episcopal  campaigns.  He  paused,  how- 
ever, but  four  or  five  days,  and  hastened  on  to  the  north  and  the 
east  as  far  as  Boston  and  Lynn.  By  the  middle  of  October  he 
was  back  again ;  a  day  of  hospitable  shelter  at  Perry  Hall,  a 
week  of  labor  in  Baltimore,  at  the  conference,  and  the  southern 
campaign  is  reopened.  It  was  followed  by  another  passage 
over  the  Alleghanies  into  Tennessee.  On  the  21st  of  May  he 
was  again  in  Baltimore,  but  saddened  by  the  news  of  the  death 
of  one  of  his  "  best  friends  in  America,"  Judge  White,  of  Kent 
County,  Md,,  whose  important  services  to  early  Methodism 
have  already  been  noticed.  "  This  news,"  writes  the  bishop, 
"  was  attended  with  an  awful  shock  to  me.  I  have  met  with 
nothing  like  it  in  the  death  of  any  friend  on  the  continent. 
Lord  help  us  all  to  live  out  our  short  day  to  thy  glory !  I  have 
lived  days,  weeks,  and  months  in  his  house.  O  that  his  re- 
moval may  be  sanctified  to  my  good  and  the  good  of  the  fam- 
ily !  He  was  about  sixty-five  years  of  age.  He  was  a  friend 
to  the  poor  and  oppressed ;  he  had  been  a  professed  Church- 
man, and  was  united  to  the  Methodist  connection  about  seven- 
teen or  eighteen  years.  His  house  and  heart  were  always 
open ;  and  he  was  a  faithful  friend  to  liberty,  in  spirit  and 
practice ;  he  was  a  most  indulgent  husband,  a  tender  father, 
and  a  most  affectionate  friend.  He  professed  perfect  love  and 
great  peace,  living  and  dying.  I  preached  twice  in  town,  and 
was  delivered  from  my  gloomy  state  of  mind.  I  spent  part  of 
the  week  visiting  from  house  to  house.  I  feel  happy  in  speak- 
ing to  all  I  find,  whether  parents,  children,  or  servants ;  I  see 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  277 

no  other  way ;  the  common  means  will  not  do ;  Baxter,  Wes- 
ley, and  our  Form  of  Discipline,  say,  i  Go  into  every  house : ' 
I  would  go  further,  and  say,  Go  into  every  kitchen  and  shop ; 
address  all,  aged  and  young,  on  the  salvation  of  their  souls." 

Again  to  the  north  and  east,  to  Boston,  Mass.,  and  round 
about  to  Bennington,  Yt.,  and  back  to  Baltimore  by  the  mid- 
dle of  October,  for  another  southern  campaign — journeying, 
preaching,  holding  conferences,  meeting  classes,  and  still  visit- 
ing from  house  to  house  in  the  places  where  he  had  occa- 
sion to  delay  a  few  days — such  are  the  events  which  crowd 
his  journals,  that  extraordinary  record  which  hastens  us  along 
with  eager  interest,  while  almost  vexing  us  with  the  slightness, 
the  brevity  of  its  notes — so  meager  in  details,  yet  so  burdened 
with  romantic  significance.  In  his  next  southern  tour  he  found 
that  "  the  connection  had  regained  its  proper  tone  in  Yirginia, 
after  having  been  kept  out  of  tune  for  five  years  by  the  unhappy 
division."  And  at  Charleston,  S.  C,  also,  he  was  cheered  with 
improved  prospects.  "  My  soul,"  he  says,  "  felt  joyful  and  solemn 
at  the  thoughts  of  a  revival  of  religion  in  Charleston."  He 
continued  there  till  the  beginning  of  March,  1796.  On  the  3d 
of  March  he  departed  for  Georgia,  and  after  itinerating  there 
over  more  than  two  hundred  miles,  set  his  face  toward  the 
northwest  again,  passed  into  the  Alleghany  mountains,  and 
ranged  about  among  them,  sometimes  in  Tennessee,  sometimes 
in  North  Carolina  and  Yirginia,  till  he  emerged  on  their  west 
in  Pennsylvania  about  the  end  of  May.  The  difficulties  of  his 
way  were  incredible.  Having  no  mercy  on  himself,  he  yet 
scrupled  to  impose  such  hardships  on  any  one  else.  "  I  doubt," 
he  says,  as  he  escaped  from  them,  "  whether  I  shall  ever  request 
any  person  to  come  and  meet  me  again  at  the  levels  of  Green 
Briar,  or  to  accompany  me  across  these  mountains  again,  as 
Daniel  Hitt  has  now  done.  O  how  checkered  is  life !  How 
thankful  ought  I  to  be  that  I  am  here  safe,  with  life  and  limbs, 
in  peace  and  plenty." 

Many  mighty  men  were  Asbury's  colaborers  in  the  Southern 
States  in  the  quadrennial  period  from  1792  to  1796 ;  and  many, 
destined  to  be  pre-eminent  at  a  later  day,  were  rising  up  in  the 
yet  feeble  and  obscure  conferences  of  that  part  of  the  continent. 


278  HISTORY    OF   THE 

Benjamin  Abbott's  appointments  for  the  brief  remainder  of 
his  life  were  in  Maryland.  His  journals  become  more  scanty 
than  in  the  years  through  which  we  have  already  followed  him, 
but  they  record  the  same  extraordinary  effects  of  his  preaching, 
hearers  falling  under  the  word  "  like  men  slain  in  battle,"  the 
"opening  of  the  windows  of  heaven,  and  the  skies  pouring 
down  righteousness,  so  that  the  people  fell  before  the  Lord." 
"We  have  referred  to  the  astonishing  physical  and  psychological 
phenomena  which  attended  his  ministrations,  and  stated  the 
cautious  interpretation  of  such  anomalies  given  by  the  best 
Methodist  authorities.  Though  not  peculiar  to  his  preaching, 
they  were  peculiarly  powerful  with  him.  They  were  indeed 
habitual,  almost  invariable,  effects  of  his  singular  eloquence,  for 
he  was  eloquent  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word.  Uneducated, 
rough,  rude  even,  in  speech  and  manner,  his  fervid  piety  and 
his  genial  human  sympathy  made  his  weather-worn  features 
glow  as  with  a  divine  light,  and  intoned  his  voice  with  a 
strange,  a  magnetic,  an  irresistible  pathos  and  power.  There 
may  have  been  a  psychological,  perhaps  a  physiological,  as 
well  as  a  moral  element  in  this  marvelous  power,  a  mystery 
which  future  science  may  render  more  intelligible ;  be  this  as 
it  may,  Benjamin  Abbott  led  a  divine  life  on  earth,  walking 
with  God,  like  Enoch,  from  day  to  day,  and  the  hardiest,  the 
most  ruffian  men  who  came  within  his  presence — the  clamorous 
rabble  that  frequently  thronged  his  congregations — fell  back, 
or  sank  prostrate  before  him,  seeing  "  his  face  as  it  had  been 
the  face  of  an  angel;"  and  if  they  attempted,  as  they  often 
did,  to  escape  by  the  doors  or  the  windows,  his  voice  would 
sometimes  smite  them  down  like  lightning.  His  casual  con- 
versation, always  religious,  his  social  or  domestic  prayers,  had 
the  same  effect.  We  continually  read  not  merely  of  "  God  at- 
tending the  word,  with  the  energy  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  such 
manner  that  numbers  fell  to  the  floor,"  that  "  the  wicked  flew 
to  the  doors,"  that  "there  was  a  shaking  among  the  dry  bones," 
but  that  at  his  temporary  lodging-places,  "  in  family  prayer, 
the  Lord  was  with  him  of  a  truth,"  and  similar  wonders  at- 
tended him.  If  he  went  into  a  house  to  baptize  a  child,  we 
hear  of  like  effects — the  u  mother  trembling  in  every  joint, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  279 

four  persons  falling  to  the  floor,  one  professing  that  God  has 
sanctified  her  soul."  In  some  cases,  as  we  have  seen,  most,  or 
even  all  his  congregation,  save  himself,  were  thus  prostrated. 
And,  however  morally  dangerous  such  scenes  might  seem  to 
be,  (physically  they  never  were  injurious,)  they  appear  to  have 
been  uniformly  followed  with  salutary  results.  Few  preachers, 
perhaps  no  other  one  of  his  day,  reclaimed  more  men  from 
gross  vice.     His  mission  seemed  especially  to  such. 

He  now  kept  the  whole  Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland  astir 
with  religious  interest.  Even  those  whose  religious  education 
had  taught  them  to  associate  quietude  with  piety  were  infected 
with  the  excitement.  "  In  the  morning,"  he  writes,  "  we  had 
a  melting  time ;  many  wept.  In  the  afternoon  the  Lord  poured 
out  his  Spirit,  and  the  slain  fell  before  him  like  dead  men; 
others  lay  as  in  the  agonies  of  death,  entreating  God  to  have 
mercy  on  their  souls ;  some  found  peace.  Glory  to  God,  many 
in  this  town  seemed  alarmed  of  their  danger ;  may  the  Lord 
increase  their  number.  A  girl  who  lived  with  a  Quaker  was  cut 
to  the  heart  in  such  a  manner  that  they  did  not  know  how  to  get 
her  home  ;  I  went  to  see  her,  and  found  many  round  her,  both 
white  and  black.  She  lay  as  one  near  her  last  gasp ;  I  kneeled 
down  and  besought  God  for  her  deliverance,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  she  broke  out  in  raptures  of  joy,  crying  out,  '  Let 
me  go  to  Jesus ! '  repeating  it  several  times ;  then  she  arose 
and  went  home.  Glory  to  God  !  for  what  my  eyes  saw,  my 
ears  heard,  and  soul  felt  that  day  of  the  blessed  Spirit.  The 
meeting  continued  from  three  o'clock  until  evening." 

Family  groups,  bearing  him  in  their  carriages  to  their  homes, 
from  his  meetings,  were  "awakened,"  "  converted,"  "sancti- 
fied," "  shouted  the  praises  of  God,"  "  lost  their  strength,"  or 
consciousness,  as  he  conversed  with  them  on  the  route.  In 
love-feasts,  sometimes,  not  one  could  give  the  usual  narration 
of  Christian  experience,  but,  under  the  introductory  devotions, 
athe  Lord  so  laid  his  hand  upon  them  that  sinners  trembled 
and  fell  to  the  floor,"  and  the  customary  exercises  had  to  give 
way  to  prayer  and  praise.  As  the  people  returned  to  their 
homes  they  were  heard  praising  God  along  the  highways.  And 
such  scenes  were  not  occasional  or  exceptional ;  nearly  every 


280  HISTORY    OF   THE 

day's  record  reports  them,  for  there  was  hardly  a  day  in  which 
he  did  not  hold  a  meeting,  and  hardly  a  meeting  without  im- 
mediate results.  As  facts  of  the  times,  not  uncommon  in  any 
part  of  the  Church,  they  are  essential  to  a  faithful  record  of 
its  history,  however  our  modern  criticism,  or  more  decorous 
ideas  of  religious  life,  may  judge  them. 

On  the  more  important  or  festival  occasions  of  the  Church,  es- 
pecially at  the  great  quarterly  meetings  of  the  time,  this  spiritual 
enthusiasm  kindled  still  higher,  and  spread  out  like  a  flame 
over  whole  circuits.  They  were  jubilees  to  Abbott.  On  one 
of  them  he  says :  "  Our  meeting  began  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  when  we  had  sung  and  prayed,  the  power  of  God 
came  down  in  such  a  manner  that  the  slain  lay  all  through  the 
house.  We  had  to  carry  them  out  of  the  house,  in  order  to 
make  room  that  the  people  might  come  in  for  the  public  preach- 
ing ;  and  when  we  had  sung  and  prayed  the  presence  of  the 
Lord  came  down  as  in  the  days  of  old,  and  the  house  was  filled 
with  his  glory ;  the  people  fell  before  him  like  men  slain  in 
battle."  If  he  deviated  for  such  special  occasions  to  other  cir- 
cuits, the  same  extraordinary  scenes  attended  him.  "  I  went," 
he  writes,  "  to  quarterly  meeting  on  Dover  circuit ;  we  had  a 
happy  day.  The  people  fell  and  acknowledged  the  power  of 
God ;  and  the  slain  lay  all  about  the  house ;  some  were  carried 
out  as  dead  men  and  women.  The  house  was  filled  with  the 
glory  of  Israel's  God,  who  spoke  peace  to  mourners,  while 
sinners  were  cut  to  the  heart.  It  was  thought  there  were 
about  fifteen  hundred  looking  on  with  wonder  and  amaze- 
ment at  the  mighty  power  of  God,  which  caused  the  powers 
of  hell  to  shake  and  give  way." 

Of  course  there  could  be  no  stagnation  in  the  region  through 
which  such  a  man  traveled  sounding  his  trumpet  daily ;  we  read 
that  "  the  flame  spread  around  the  circuit,  and  many  were 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  God."  He  continued  these 
labors  till  May,  1795,  when  failing  in  health,  he  returned  to 
his  home  in  New  Jersey,  and  never  was  able  to  resume  his 
travels  on  a  circuit.  He  had  been  suffering,  in  Maryland, 
for  three  months  from  fever  and  ague.  After  re-entering  New 
Jersey  he   frequently  exerted  his  little  remaining  strength 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  281 

in  religious  meetings,  until  June,  1796,  when  he  rapidly  failed  ; 
but  his  soul  remained  unclouded  to  the  last.  He  testified  that 
"  perfect  love  casteth  out  fear,  and  he  that  feareth  is  not  made 
perfect  in  love.  And  for  my  part,"  he  added,  "  I  can  call 
God  to  witness  that  death  is  no  terror  to  me !  I  am  ready  to 
meet  my  God  if  it  were  now  ! " 

On  the  13th  of  August  he  was  in  "  excrutiating  pain," 
"  which  he  bore  with  Christian  patience  and  resignation.  He 
appeared  to  possess  his  rational  faculties  to  his  last  moments ; 
and  for  some  time  previous  was  delivered  from  pain,  to  the  joy 
of  his  friends;  his  countenance  continued  joyful,  heavenly, 
and  serene.  '  Glory  to  God ! '  he  exclaimed,  '  I  see  heaven 
sweetly  opened  before  me  ! ' "  The  next  day  he  was  no  more. 
He  died  as  he  had  lived,  "  shouting !  "  "  Glory !  glory  !  glory !  " 
are  his  last  utterances  recorded  by  his  biographer,  who  at- 
tended him  in  death.  He  uttered  them  "  clapping  his  hands, 
in  the  greatest  ecstacies  of  joy  imaginable."  The  ruling  pas- 
sion was  strong  in  death. 

Thus  passes  from  the  scene  of  our  story  one  of  its  most  re- 
markable characters.  He  had  led  hosts  of  souls  from  the 
lowest  abysses  of  vice  into  a  good  life  and  into  the  Church, 
from  the  Hudson  to  the  Chesapeake.  He  has  been  a  problem 
to  students  of  our  history.  I  have  already  endeavored  to  give 
the  solution  of  that  problem ;  but  his  singular  yet  most  effective 
life  will  ever  remain  a  marvel,  if  not  a  mystery.  An  extraor- 
dinary individuality  of  character,  sanctified  by  extraordinary 
endowments  of  divine  grace,  must  be  its  chief  explanation. 
They  fitted  him  for  a  peculiar  work,  and  he  did  it  thoroughly, 
with  all  his  might  and  to  the  end. 

He  died  aged  about  sixty-four  years,  had  been  a  Methodist 
nearly  twenty-four  years,  a  local  preacher  more  than  sixteen,  a 
traveling  preacher  more  than  seven.  His  ministerial  brethren 
characterized  him  in  their  Conference  Minutes  "  as  one  of  the 
wonders  of  America,  no  man's  copy  ;  an  uncommon  zealot  for 
the  blessed  work  of  sanctification,  he  preaching  it  on  all  occa- 
sions and  in  all  congregations,  and  what  was  best  of  all,  living 
it.  He  was  an  innocent,  holy  man ;  he  was  seldom  heard  to 
speak  anything  but  about  God  and  religion ;  his  whole  soul 


282  niSTORY  OF   THE 

was  often  overwhelmed  with  the  power  of  God.  He  was 
known  to  hundreds  as  a  truly  primitive  Methodist  preacher, 
and  a  man  full  of  faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost." 

Whatcoat  has  left  us  but  a  page  or  two  respecting  his  labors  in 
this  period.  He  was  Abbott's  presiding  elder,  most  of  the  time, 
on  the  Maryland  peninsula.  Grave,  but  fervidly  pious,  he  won- 
dered while  he  rejoiced  at  the  results  of  Abbott's  preaching.  An 
extraordinary  revival  spread  over  his  extended  district.  "  We 
had  large  congregations,  and  many  blessed  revivals  in  different 
parts  of  the  district,"  he  says :  "  Our  quarterly  meetings  were 
generally  comfortable,  lively,  and  profitable.  Some  appeared 
extraordinary ;  souls  were  suddenly  struck  with  convictions, 
and  fell  to  the  ground,  roaring  out  for  the  disquietness  of  their 
souls,  as  though  almost  dead,  and  after  a  while  starting  up  and 
praising  God,  as  though  heaven  were  come  into  their  souls; 
others  were  as  much  concerned  for  a  cleaner  heart,  and  as  fully 
delivered.  I  had  to  attend  forty-eight  quarterly  meetings  in 
the  space  of  twelve  months  while  on  this  district." 

Henry  Smith  entered  the  field  of  the  itinerancy  in  the  pres- 
ent period — a  man  venerated  throughout  the  Church ;  in  our 
own  day,  familiar  to  most  of  its  people  by  his  long  and  widely- 
extended  services,  and  his  frequent  published  letters,  dated 
from  "  Pilgrim's  Rest,"  Baltimore  county,  on  the  early  events 
of  our  history.  When  ninety-four  years  old  he  could  say,  "  I 
am  now,  I  believe,  the  only  link  in  the  old  Baltimore  Confer- 
ence connecting  our  early  preachers  with  the  present  race. 
Under  a  sermon,  preached  by  Thomas  Scott,  (afterward  Judge 
Scott,  of  Ohio,)  I  made  up  my  mind  to  be  a  Christian  in  earn- 
est, and  joined  the  Methodists.  In  1793  I  was  licensed  to 
preach  at  a  quarterly  meeting.  The  late  Joshua  Wells  signed 
my  license.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  I  entered  the 
itinerant  work  on  Berkeley  Circuit.  On  the  1st  of  June,  1794, 
I  attended  the  first  Conference  at  Harrisonburgh,  Rockingham 
County.  I  was  appointed  to  Clarksburgh  Circuit,  west  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains ;  in  the  following  spring  to  the  Redstone 
Circuit.  In  October,  1793,  I  attended  my  first  Conference  in 
Baltimore.  From  there  I  was  sent  to  Kentucky ;  then  to  the 
far  West.      There  was  but  one  Conference  then  west  of  the 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  2S3 

Alleghany  Mountains,  called  the  Western  Conference,  and  that 
was  small,  though  spread  over  a  vast  territory,  namely,  West- 
ern Virginia,  New  River  and  Holston,  and  East  Tennessee, 
Cumberland  and  Kentucky.  In  October,  1799,  I  crossed  the 
Ohio  into  the  Northwestern  Territory,  and  organized  the  Scioto 
Circuit.  In  the  spring  of  1800  I  came  to  the  General  Confer- 
ence in  Baltimore,  and  by  my  own  request  was  returned  to 
Scioto,  my  newly-formed  circuit.  Thence  I  was  returned  to 
Kentucky,  and  ended  my  western  labors  on  Nolachucky  Cir- 
cuit, Tennessee,  March,  1803,  having  suffered  much  from  bil- 
ious fever,  ague  and  fever,  dyspepsia,  and  rheumatism,  being 
then  quite  a  cripple.  But  being  requested  by  the  bishop  I  set 
out  on  horseback,  and  rode  about  four  or  Rye  hundred  miles  in 
much  pain,  and  came  again  to  my  mother  Conference.  I  trav- 
eled seven  years  under  the  rule  that  allowed  a  preacher  sixty- 
four  dollars  a  year,  including  all  marriage  fees  and  presents, 
from  a  cravat  down  to  a  pair  of  stockings.  I  think  our  bishops 
were  under  the  same  rule.  The  last  time  I  saw  this  rule  im- 
posed was  at  the  Baltimore  Conference,  held  at  the  Stone 
Chapel  in  May,  1800.  In  my  mind  I  yet  see  the  sainted  Wil- 
son Lee  hand  over  his  fees  and  presents.  True,  our  traveling 
expenses  were  allowed  if  we  could  get  them.  The  world  never 
saw  a  more  disinterested,  cross-bearing,  and  self-sacrificing  set 
of  ministers  than  the  early  Methodist  preachers." 

He  joined  the  Methodists  about  his  twentieth  year.  He 
met  soon  after  Francis  M'Cormick,  another  memorable 
name,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see.  "I  did  not  hesitate," 
says  Smith,  "to  tell  him  seriously  my  whole  and  sole 
object  in  joining  the  Church,  as  he  called  it.  He  took 
me  by  the  hand,  and  said,  '  Farewell,  I  expect  I  shall  join 
too  after  a  while,'  and  went  back  into  the  house.  He 
went  to  the  meeting,  was  powerfully  awakened,  joined  the 
Society,  and  that  night  began  to  pray  in  his  family.  He  be- 
came a  leader  of  a  class,  an  exhorter,  and  finally  a  local 
preacher,  and  was  a  pioneer  in  the  West.  In  the  fall  of  1779 
I  found  him  on  the  banks  of  the  Little  Miami,  opening  the 
way  for  the  traveling  preachers.  He  was  my  constant  com- 
panion and  true  yoke-fellow  while  I  remained  at  home." 


284  HISTORY   OF    THE 

Smith's  friend,  M'Cormick,  became  an  ardent  Methodist, 
and  went  forth  with  him  to  hold  their  first  public  meeting. 
It  was  at  "  Davenport's  Meeting-House,"  in  the  wilderness  of 
Western  Maryland,  and  was  a  characteristic  scene.  "  We 
found,"  writes  Smith,  "the  lower  part  of  the  house  full  of 
people,  and  some  in  the  gallery.  There  was  no  light  but  on 
the  pulpit,  and  that  was  high ;  so  we  had  to  ascend  the  pulpit 
to  see  how  to  read  a  hymn.  It  was  a  trembling  time  with  me, 
and  no  better  with  my  companion.  I  opened  the  meeting. 
One  poor  sinner  cried  out  for  mercy  under  the  prayer.  I  tried 
to  exhort,  but  was,  as  I  thought,  amazingly  embarrassed,  and 
sat  down  in  great  confusion  and  distress  of  mind ;  for  I  felt  as 
if  I  had  done  more  harm  than  I  should  ever  do  good,  and 
prayed  to  the  Lord  to  forgive  my  presumption,  and  I  never 
would  do  the  like  again.  The  poor  woman  was  still  crying  for 
mercy.  Brother  M'Cormick  gave  a  lively  exhortation,  and 
seemed  to  have  great  liberty,  and  concluded  with  singing  and 
prayer.  I  was  still  so  mortified  that  I  wished  to  get  out  of 
the  meeting-house  and  hide  myself.  But  the  people  all  seemed 
to  be  serious,  and  sat  down,  and  some  looked  at  the  woman  in 
distress.  Presently  Brother  M'Cormick  began  to  sing,  '  Come 
on,  my  partners  in  distress,'  in  great  spirit,  for  he  was  a  fine 
singer,  and  the  soul-melting  power  of  the  Lord  came  down  up- 
on us,  and  it  was  felt  through  all  the  house.  My  mind  was 
relieved  in  a  moment,  and  I  soon  found  myself  on  a  bench  ex- 
horting the  people,  and  we  had  a  most  glorious  time.  This 
was  a  log  meeting-house,  and  I  had  hauled  the  first  log  to  it ; 
and  this  was  the  first  pulpit  I  ever  opened  my  mouth  in." 

In  1793  Smith  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  began  his  itiner- 
ant career  on  Berkeley  Circuit,  Virginia.  In  the  next  year  he 
was  received  on  trial  in  the  Conference,  and  sent  beyond  the 
Alleghanies;  he  thus  took  his  place  among  the  founders  of 
Methodism  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  where  we  shall 
hereafter  meet  him  with  his  friend  M'Cormick,  both  doing 
heroic*  service.    • 

The  name  of  M'Kendree  has  already  appeared  in  our  nar- 
rative— compromised  with  that  of  O'Kelly,  but  speedily  re- 
deemed.    William  M'Kendree  was  destined  to  be  the  fourth 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  285 

bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  a  chief  founder  of 
the  denomination  in  the  West,  a  preacher  of  transcendent 
power,  an  ecclesiastical  administrator  of  scarcely  rivaled  ability, 
and  a  man  of  the  saintliest  character.  Under  the  ministry  of 
John  Easter,  famous  for  his  eloquence  and  usefulness,  his  con- 
science was  effectually  awakened.  "  After  a  sore  and  sorrow- 
ful travail  of  three  days,"  he  says,  "  which  were  employed  in 
hearing  Mr.  Easter,  and  in  fasting  and  prayer,  while  the  man 
of  God  was  showing  a  large  congregation  the  way  of  salvation 
by  faith,  with  a  clearness  which  at  once  astonished  and  en- 
couraged me,  I  ventured  my  all  upon  Christ.  In  a  moment 
my  soul  was  relieved  of  a  burden  too  heavy  to  be  borne,  and 
joy  instantly  succeeded  sorrow\"  Easter  induced  him  to  ac- 
company him  on  his  circuit;  but,  after  some  attempts  to 
preach,  he  returned  home,  fearful  that  he  had  run  before  he 
was  called.  Philip  Cox  was  appointed  to  the  Mecklenburg 
Circuit  by  the  next  Conference,  and  at  the  same  session  Easter, 
who  knew  M'Kenclree's  capacities  better  than  his  modesty  al- 
lowed him  to  estimate  them  himself,  had  him  received  on  pro- 
bation and  placed  under  the  care  of  Cox,  though  he  had  not 
yet  been  licensed  as  a  local  preacher.  Cox  was  a  man  of  flam- 
ing zeal  and  indomitable  energy,  and  bore  along  his  diffident 
colleague.  He  made  full  proof  of  his  ministry,  and  was  suc- 
cessively appointed  to  Cumberland,  Portsmouth,  Amelia,  and 
Greensville  Circuits ;  to  the  latter  as  preacher  in  charge. 

He  was  long  under  the  powerful  influence  of  0 'Kelly,  who 
was  his  presiding  elder.  M'Kendree  did  not  know  Asbury 
intimately  enough  to  qualify,  in  his  own  mind,  the  charges 
made  against  him  by  O'Kelly ;  he  yielded  to  the  influence  of 
his  popular  and  ardent  presiding  elder,  and,  wTith  Eice  Hag- 
gard, sent  in  his  resignation  to  Asbury.  Kegretting  his  sud- 
den error,  he  resolved  to  ascertain,  from  personal  acquaintance, 
the  real  character  of  Asbury,  and  for  this  purpose  accompanied 
the  bishop  in  his  travels.  He  became  satisfied  that  O'Kelly 
had  misrepresented  him,  and  resumed  his  work  with  a  devo- 
tion which  never  again  wavered.  In  1795  his  appointment 
was  on  Botetourt  Circuit,  still  on  the  frontier,  west  of  the  Blue 
Kidge,  for  Asbury  had  discovered  in  him  the  qualifications  of 


286  HISTORY  OF    THE 

a  pioneer  and  founder.  He  had  four  circuits  under  his  care, 
traveling  on  each  of  them  a  quarter  of  a  year.  During  the 
remainder  of  the  century  he  traveled  large  districts  as  pre- 
siding elder,  one  of  them  extending  along  the  Potomac,  in 
Maryland  and  Virginia,  and  reaching  from  the  Chesapeake  to 
the  Alleghanies.  He  had  now  become  one  of  the  leading  men 
of  the  Church.  He  was  nearly  six  feet  high,  with  a  robust 
frame,  weighing  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds,  of  ex- 
traordinary strength  and  activity,  fair  complexion,  black  hair 
and  blue  eyes.  "His  intellect,  as  a  whole,  was  bright,  and 
his  thoughts  diamond-pointed.  He  never  said  foolish  things — 
never  weak,  never  even  common  things.  There  was  thought 
in  all  his  words,  and  wisdom  in  all  his  thoughts.  He  was  the 
man  for  the  times  and  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  leading  in 
triumph  the  Church  in  the  wilderness." 

Asbury  judged  him  fit  to  be  the  leader  of  the  western  itiner- 
ancy. He  passed  into  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  where  a 
grand  career  awaited  him.  He  here  had  charge  of  the  West- 
ern Conference,  comprehending  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Virginia,  (west  of  New  River,)  and  a  circuit  in  Illinois.  We 
shall  find  him  at  last  worthily  at  the  head  of  the  American 
Methodist  hosts. 

Enoch  George  had  also  now  become  an  effective  evangelist. 
He  came  under  the  ministry  of  Jarratt,  and  was  awakened, 
and  afterward  brought  into  the  Church  by  Easter.  His 
brethren  encouraged  him,  and  warned  him  that  it  was  his 
duty  to  "exhort"  the  people.  Philip  Cox  called  him  out 
upon  a  circuit,  and  Asbury  sent  him  with  a  letter  to  a  preacher 
who  was  breaking  up  the  fallow  ground  and  forming  a  circuit, 
at  the  head  waters  of  the  Catawba  and  Broad  Rivers,  in  North 
Carolina,  three  hundred  miles  distant.  The  bishop  knew 
that  if  anything  could  be  made  of  the  "  beardless  boy,"  pre- 
sented to  him  by  Cox,  the  heroic  work  of  the  frontier  would 
make  him.  He  was  thus  made  an  evangelic  giant,  and  a 
worthy  successor  of  Asbury. 

It  was  in  1789  that  Cox  called  him  out ;  in  1790  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Conference  on  trial  and  sent  to  Pamlico  Circuit, 
North  Carolina ;  in  1791  to  Caswell,  where  he  had  great  sue- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  287 

cess ;  but,  in  accordance  with  the  "  itinerancy "  of  the  times, 
he  was  soon  dispatched  again  to  Pamlico  Circuit,  "  embracing 
as  sickly  a  region  as  any  in  North  Carolina."  "  This  sudden 
transition,"  he  says,  "  from  the  foot  of  the  Black  Mountain  to 
the  margin  of  the  sea,  tried  my  faith.  Thus  I  was  made  par- 
taker in  the  afflictions  of  my  brethren." 

In  1792  he  traveled  Gifford  County,  North  Carolina,  where 
"  it  pleased  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  to  revive  his  work 
gloriously."  He  attended  the  General  Conference  of  1792, 
and  witnessed  afterward  the  schism  of  O'Kelly,  as  it  desolated 
the  neighborhood  of  his  "  relatives  in  Virginia,  many  of  whom 
joined  him."  "  I  had  sorrow  upon  sorrow,"  he  writes.  The 
secession  spread  into  his  North  Carolina  field,  and  required  his 
utmost  wisdom.  In  1793  Asbury  called,  in  a  North  Carolina 
Conference,  for  preachers  for  the  further  south,  but  they  hesi- 
tated. "  Here  am  I,"  said  George ;  "  send  me.  We  set  off, 
and  when  the  expenses  were  paid  nothing  was  left."  He  was 
rapidly  tossed  about  the  vast  field,  broke  down  in  health,  and 
had  to  locate,  but  resumed  his  itinerant  labors  in  1799  with 
restored  vigor  and  increased  zeal ;  and  thenceforward,  with  a 
single  intermission,  passed  through  the  denomination  like  "  a 
flame  of  fire"  for  nearly  thirty  years,  when  he  fell  triumph- 
antly in  death  in  the  highest  office  of  the  ministry.  Like 
M'Kendree,  he  was  large  in  stature,  nearly  six  feet  high,  stout, 
with  a  tendency  to  corpulence,  and  full  of  energy;  with  a 
military  erectness  while  standing,  inclining  forward  when 
moving,  with  his  hands  usually  thrown  behind  him,  and  habit- 
ually quick  in  his  motions.  His  form  was  imposing  by  its 
expression  of  strength,  his  face  broad,  forehead  prominent  and 
expanded,  nose  large,  eyes  blue  and  deeply  set,  eyebrows  dark 
and  projecting,  hair  black,  tinged  with  gray,  and  carelessly 
but  gracefully  hanging  about  his  neck ;  his  complexion  sallow, 
the  effect  of  his  sufferings  from  the  miasma  of  the  South.  His 
whole  person,  in  fine,  was  stamped  with  character.  His  in- 
tellect was  clear  and  sure,  if  not  brilliant ;  calm,  though  always 
energetic ;  quiet  energy  pervaded  all  his  acts  and  words.  An 
extraordinary  pathos  melted  his  audiences  and  himself,  and  he 
often  had  to  pause  in  his  sermons  and  ask  his  hearers  to  join 


288  IIISTORY   OF    THE 

liim  in  utterances  of  thanksgiving,  while,  with  tears  streaming 
down  his  weather-worn  face,  he  would  raise  his  spectacles, 
and,  with  uplifted  eyes  and  hands,  offer  praise  to  God,  bear- 
ing aloft  his  thronged  congregations,  thrilled,  weeping,  and 
adoring.  The  elder  Methodists  throughout  the  country  still 
recall  him  with  veneration  as  the  "  weeping  prophet "  of  their 
episcopacy. 

The  two  brothers,  Coleman  and  Simon  Carlisle,  were  suc- 
cessful evangelists' of  the  South.  The  former  joined  the  itin- 
erancy in  1792.  In  the  latter  part  of  1823  he  "  finally  located, 
*not  from  choice,  but  from  absolute  necessity."  "He  was," 
says  one  of  his  ministerial  contemporaries,  "  a  poor  man,  with 
a  sickly,  though  truly  good  and  excellent  wife,  and  quite  a 
number  of  little  boys  and  girls.  I  have  known  him,  after 
returning  home  from  preaching  several  miles  distant,  after 
supper,  take  the  same  horse  (having  but  one)  and  plow  with 
him  by  moonlight  until  nearly  midnight,  and  then  go  off  next 
morning  to  his  appointments.  He.  neither  owned  nor  hired 
servants."  He  was  a  very  popular  preacher,  and,  when  local, 
was  sent  for  far  and  near  to  preach  funeral  sermons.  His 
brother,  Simon  Carlisle,  preceded  him  in  the  ministry  by 
two  years,  endured  also  the  severest  hardships  of  the  itiner- 
ancy, and  an  additional  and  extraordinary  trial  from  which, 
however,  he  had  at  last  one  of  those  providential  vindications 
which  so  often  occur  in  the  annals  of  English  and  American 
Methodism,  and  which  may  well  inspire  with  hope  all  innocent 
sufferers.  After  having  labored  with  humble  but  intrepid 
devotion  on  some  of  the  hardest  fields  of  the  South,  he  was 
arrested  before  the  Church  and  expelled  in  1794,  and  his 
name  appears  in  the  Minutes  of  that  year  branded  with  re- 
proach as  a  fallen  and  outcast  man.  No  affliction,  no  martyr- 
dom could  have  been  more  appalling  to  a  faithful  Methodist 
preacher  of  those  days  of  ministerial  chivalry.  The  charge 
alleged  against  him  was  such  as,  if  possible,  to  enhance  the 
bitterness  of  his  grief,  by  combining  meanness  with  guilt,  for 
it  was  theft!  For  two  years  the  guiltless  man  bore,  with 
bowed  head,  this  great  and,  to  him,  mysterious  sorrow;  but 
his  faith  failed  not.     He  had  given  offense  by  reproving  a  dis- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUECH.  289 

turbance  in  one  of  his  rude  frontier  congregations ;  under  the 
provocation  a  young  man  went  to  his  stopping  place,  placed  a 
pistol  in  his  saddle-bags,  and  the  next  day  got  out  a  search- 
warrant  for  him,  making  oath  that  he  believed  Carlisle  had 
stolen  his  weapon.  An  officer  hastened  after  him  on  his 
circuit,  overtook  him,  and  charged  him  with  the  crime.  The 
astonished  preacher,  conscious  of  innocence,  readily  consented 
to  have  his  saddle-bags  searched.  The  pistol  was  found  in 
them ;  Jie  was  thunderstruck ;  he  knew  not  what  to  do,  but 
calmly  gave  himself  up  to  the  law.  He  was  found  guilty, 
and  had  no  way  to  clear  himself:  even  the  Church  threw  him 
off.  But  the  criminal  young  man  was  cast  on  his  death-bed : 
about  an  hour  before  he  expired  he  frantically  cried  out,  "  I 
cannot  die,  I  cannot  die,  until  I  reveal  one  thing :  Mr.  Carlisle 
never  stole  that  pistol ;  I  myself  put  it  in  his  saddle-bags ! " 
He  then  became  calm,  and  so  passed  into  eternity.  Carlisle 
was  restored  to  the  ministry,  and  died  in  it  with  peace  in  1838. 
Stephen  G-.  Roszel  was  now  a  young  itinerant  in  Virginia, 
but  rising  continually  in  public  influence  by  his  flaming  zeal 
and  strong  talents.  For  more  than  fifty  years  he  was  to  be  a 
chieftain  of  the  Church  in  Virginia  and  Maryland,  conspicuous 
as  a  presiding  elder,  an  able  debater  in  the  General  Confer- 
ence, a  leader  in  annual  conferences,  a  revivalist  in  the  pulpit, 
preaching  often  with  great  power  through  an  hour  and  a  half 
or  two  hours  ;  "  a  man  of  mark,  exerting  a  wide  and  powerful 
influence  in  his  denomination."  Joshua  Wells  was  also  abroad 
in  the  southern  field  at  this  period,  in  the  full  vigor  of  his 
young  manhood.  An  able  and  successful  laborer,  and  re- 
garded by  the  Church  with  peculiar  reverence  through  a 
singularly  long  life,  he  was  nevertheless  so  modest,  if  not 
morbidly  self-diffident,  as  scarcely  ever  to  have  spoken  or 
written  anything  respecting  himself.  He  was  born  in  Balti- 
more County  in  1764,  joined  the  itinerancy  when  twenty -five 
years  of  age,  and  died  more  than  ninety-seven  years  old.  He 
had  traveled  and  preached  in  Virginia,  Maryland,  Delaware, 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Massachusetts  as  far  as  Boston, 
and  became  at  last  the  oldest  living  preacher  whose  name  was 
on  the  roll  of  the  itinerancy.     He  was  dignified  and  robust  in 

19 


290  HISTORY    OF    THE 

person,  his  features  strongly  marked,  and  yet  benignant.  His 
sermons  were  noted  for  their  perspicuity  and  brevity,  their 
masculine  sense,  clear  and  vigorous  argumentation,  and  effect. 
He  was  distinguished  as  a  disciplinarian.  Philip  Bruce  was 
energetically  spreading  out  the  denomination  during  these 
years  on  vast  districts,  as  presiding  elder,  from  Northern  Vir- 
ginia to  Charlestown,  N.  C,  and  to  "Western  Georgia ;  Nelson 
Reed  was  traversing  large  districts  in  Maryland  and  Virginia ; 
Tobias  Gibson  in  the  Carolinas,  and  Valentine  Cook  and  John 
Cole  in  the  wilds  of  Virginia,  were  preparing,  by  the  disci- 
pline of  severest  labor  and  hardship,  for  their  great  achieve- 
ments in  the  new  regions  beyond  the  mountains,  whither  John 
Kobler,  Barnabas  M'Henry,  Daniel  Hitt,  and  other  mighty 
men,  had  lately  advanced  from  the  same  southern  preparatory 
field.  Thomas  Scott,  a  memorable  name  in  the  "West,  was 
also  there  preparing  for  the  same  pioneer  service,  meanwhile 
leading  into  the  Church,  in  Virginia,  Edward  Tiffin,  afterward 
first  governor  of  Ohio,  a  zealous  preacher,  and  a  founder,  with 
Scott,  of  Methodism  in  the  Northwestern  Territory.  Picker- 
ing, Bostwick,  and  other  worthies  were  preparing  for  similar 
expeditions  to  New  England,  the  latter  also  destined  to  bear 
part  in  the  trans- Alleghany  triumphs  of  the  Church.  In  short, 
southern  Methodism,  at  this  early  period,  presented  a  surpris- 
ing array  of  strong  men ;  men  who  have  impressed  their  names 
on  the  history  of  both  the  South  and  West,  and  who  deserve 
to  live  forever  in  the  grateful  memory  of  the  American  people 
as  the  standard-bearers  of  Christian  civilization  along  most  of 
the  southern  and  western  frontier. 

The  Church  had  greatly  extended  in  the  South  since  the 
General  Conference;  no  less  than  fourteen  new  circuits  had 
been  formed,  reaching  to  the  heart  of  Georgia,  and  into  the 
Western  mountains,  across  which  preachers  were  penetrating 
into  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  There  were  now  in  Maryland 
12,416  Methodists ;  in  Virginia,  13,779 ;  in  North  Carolina, 
8,713;  South  Carolina,  3,659;  Georgia,  1,174;  aggregately 
nearly  40,000  south  of  Delaware,  exclusive  of  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee.  They  amounted  to  considerably  more  than  twice 
as  many  as  in  all  the  rest  of  the  denomination. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  291 


CHAPTER  XX. 

METHODISM  IN  THE   MIDDLE  AND  NOKTHEEN  STATES  *.  1792-1796. 

On  his  return  from  the  South  and  West  in  1793  Asbury 
entered  New  Jersey  early  in  July,  pressed  forward  in  haste, 
and  was  holding  a  Conference  at  Albany  in  the  third  week  of 
the  month.  "  We  had,"  he  writes,  "  a  melting  season  among 
the  preachers.  Great  changes  will  be  made  among  them  from 
this  Conference :  some  will  be  sent  to  New  Jersey,  others  to 
Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts.  We  hope  two  hundred 
souls  have  been  awakened,  and  as  many  converted,  in  Albany 
District  the  past  year." 

We  get  but  mere  glimpses  of  his  episcopal  pastorate  from 
his  meager  journals ;  their  records  would  seem  a  waste  of 
paper  were  it  not  that  they  reveal  so  much,  though  so  in- 
directly, the  tireless  man  and  the  apostolic  bishop.  Ever 
regardful  of  the  interests  of  the  Church  where  they  were  most 
critical;  he  penetrated  to  the  furthest  tracks  of  his  pioneer 
itinerants ;  hence  his  incessant  return  to  the  extreme  South, 
to  the  ultra- Alleghany  frontiers,  to  New  England,  and,  before 
long,  to  the  wilds  of  Upper  Canada.  In  these  journeys  he 
must  necessarily  cross  and  recross  the  more  settled  central 
fields  of  the  Church,  and  these  he  inspects  with  the  minutest 
care,  laboring  as  hard  among  them  as  their  local  pastors  ;  but 
his  records  lose  here  much  of  their  interest;  they  present 
little  more  than  the  briefest  allusions — mere  memoranda.  He 
longed  for  the  woods,  the  mountains,  the  excitements  and 
hardships  of  the  frontier.  It  is  the  fate  of  energetic  men  to  be 
restless,  to  be  unhappy  without  movement  and  achievement: 
the  cause  perhaps,  and,  in  part,  the  effect  of  their  activity. 
Asbury  was  constitutionally  melancholy;  unconscious,  he 
often  writes,  "  of  any  sin  even  in  thought,"  yet  in  grievous 
dejection.     No  medical  scholar  can  fail  to   observe  in   his 


292  HISTORY    OF   THE 

journals,  from  beginning  to  end,  and  especially  about  this 
time,  a  profoundly  morbid  temperament.  There  is  now 
scarcely  a  page  in  which  we  'do  not  witness  the  heroic  struggle 
of  his  invincible  will  with  this  formidable  physical  drawback. 
And  the  evil  grows  as  he  advances  in  life.  He  mentions, 
oftener  than  ever,  his  inward  conflicts,  alternations  of  joy  and 
sadness,  of  mental  freedom  and  oppression  in  the  pulpit.  He 
at  last  perceives  the  fact  that  his  melancholy  is  "  constitu- 
tional," and  will  end  only  with  his  life.  This  brave  struggle 
with  an  unconquerable  physical  evil  enhances  inexpressibly 
the  greatness  of  his  character  and  of  his  unparalleled  life.  He 
had  not,  however,  the  sagacity  or  scientific  knowledge  to  per- 
ceive that  his  excessive  occupation  caused  much  of  his  suifer- 
ings.  It  may  be  soberly  affirmed  that  through  all  his  ministerial 
career  he  was  doing  the  work  of  ten  if  not  twenty  ordinary 
men.  No  human  strength  is  adequate  to  such  labors  as  his — 
journeys  on  horseback  over  the  worst  roads,  thirty,  forty,  fifty 
miles  a  day,  with  almost  daily  preaching,  class  leading,  visits 
from  house  to  house,  frequent  and  laborious  sessions  of  con- 
ferences, a  correspondence  of  a  thousand  letters  yearly ;  for 
most  of  the  year  the  poorest  fare  of  log-cabins,  with  no  other 
luxury  than  tea,  which  he  always  carried  with  him  and  often 
prepared  himself  beneath  a  tree ;  and  almost  continual  sick- 
ness, chills,  fevers,  and  rheumatism.  Aristotle  taught  that  the 
vices  are  the  excesses  of  the  virtues.  Asbury  erred  in  this 
respect.  His  life,  effective  as  it  was,  might  have  been  more 
effective  if  more  healthful,  physically  and  mentally.  Johnson 
remarked  to  Boswell,  that  to  interpret  the  Scripture  command, 
"be  instant  in  prayer,"  literally,  were  to  abuse  it;  that  no  one 
could  thus  obey  it  without  becoming  a  maniac.  Asbury, 
besides  his  other  extreme  habits,  was  almost  a  literalist  in  this 
respect.  He  usually  prayed  with  families  at  the  close  of  each 
meal,  at  taverns,  or  wherever  else  he  stopped.  He  prayed  in 
all  his  pastoral  visits.  For  years  he  prayed  for  each  of  his 
preachers  by  name  daily;  at  every  conference  he  prayed 
privately  over  each  name  on  the  list  of  appointments ;  on  his 
rides  he  prayed  ten  minutes  each  hour,  and  he  records  that 
there  were  few  minutes  in  the  day  in  which  his  thoughts  were 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  293 

not  absorbed  in  prayer.  He  fasted  every  Friday,  besides 
going  without  food  from  early  morning  till  late  evening 
several  days  in  almost  every  week.  We  cannot  wonder  then 
that  his  life  became  abnormal,  and  we  cannot  but  wonder  that 
it  was  so  mighty  in  spite  of  that  fact.  Nor  can  we  be  sur- 
prised that  a  tinge  of  severity,  if  not  moroseness,  overspread 
at  times  his  really  generous  nature,  and  somewhat  repelled  his 
more  diffident  associates. 

He  ranged  over  the  northern  regions  of  New  York  with 
much  of  the  zest  of  his  western  frontier  adventures,  preaching 
in  log-cabins  to  multitudes  gathered  from  great  distances.  "  I 
find,'1  he  writes,  "  some  similarity  between'  the  northern  and 
western  frontiers."  He  penetrated  to  Ashgrove,  the  seat 
of  Embury's  society,  and  refreshed  the  little  band  in  a 
"  solemn  meeting."  We  trace  him  southward  rapidly  to  "  Coey- 
man's  Patent,"  "  weary,  sick,  and  faint,  after  riding  thirty-six 
miles.  Dr.  Eoberts,  however,  was  with  him  from  New  En- 
gland, and  kept  up  the  incessant  labors  of  the  day.  They 
reached  the  neighborhood  of  Khinebeck,  and  were  comforted 
with  the  society  of  Garrettson.  "  God,"  he  says,  "  once  put 
into  Brother  Garrettson's  hands  great  riches  of  a  spiritual 
nature,  and  he  labored  much ;  if  he  now  does  good  according 
to  his  temporal  ability  he  will  be  blessed  by  the  Lord  and 
men." 

Garrettson,  faithful  in  his  prosperity,  was  "  blessed  by  the 
Lord  and  men."  His  beautiful  home  at  Khinebeck  often 
sheltered,  in  later  years,  Asbury  and  his  fellow-laborers.  The 
bishop  delighted  to  call  it  "  Travelers'  Rest,"  and  could  write, 
"  I  do  believe  God  dwells  in  this  house."  Through  Garrettson 
he  became  intimate  with,  and  exerted  a  salutary  influence 
over,  many  distinguished  families  of  the  region — the  Living- 
stons, Montgomerys,  Sands,  Rutsens,  Yan  Courtlandts,  and 
others,  among  whom  were  raised  up  memorable  examples  of 
the  elder  Methodism.  Catharine  Garrettson,  a  daughter  of 
the  Livingston  family,  was  one  of  those  elect  "  women  of 
Methodism"  who  ministered  to  the  bishop,  like  Mary  and 
Martha  to  his  divine  Master,  from  Rhinebeck's  "  Travelers' 
Rest"  to  Perry  Hall  in  Maryland,  Rembert  Hall  in  South 


294  HISTORY   OF   THE 

Carolina,  and  Bussell's  mansion  among  the  Holston  heights. 
He  preached  at  Bhinebeck,  bnt  hastened  on  with  Boberts. 
"  We  stopped,"  he  says,  "  at  Governor  Yan  Courtlandt's,  who 
reminds  me  of  General  Bussell.  We  had  all  we  needed,  and 
abundantly  more  than  we  desired.  Best,  rest,  how  sweet ! 
yet  how  often  in  labor  I  rest,  and  in  rest  labor  !  Sunday,  20, 
I  had  a  comfortable  time  at  Croton  Chapel,  on  Bom.  i,  16. 
I  returned  to  General  Van  Courtlandt's,  and  dined  with  my 
dear  aged  friends.     Shall  we  ever  meet  again  ? " 

The  name  of  the  good  governor  occurs  often  in  the  bishop's 
journals.  He  was  a  hearty  Methodist,  very  rich,  inheriting 
much  of  the  old  Courtlandt  manor,  and  lived  in  a  spacious 
mansion  near  the  mouth  of  the  Croton  river.  It  was  the  home 
of  many  of  the  primitive  itinerants,  and  had  entertained 
Washington,  La  Fayette,  Franklin,  and  Whitefield ;  the  latter 
had  preached  from  its  portico  to  vast  throngs.  The  governor's 
influence  was  an  important  aid  to  Methodism.  He  was  the 
first  lieutenant-governor  of  the  State,  was  eighteen  times 
elected  to  the  office,  and  was  president  of  the  convention 
which  formed  the  state  constitution.  He  gave  land  for  a 
Methodist  church  and  cemetery,  and  died,  as  his  epitaph  says, 
"  a  bright  witness  of  that  perfect  love  which  casteth  out  the 
fear  of  death." 

After  another  tour  over  the  South  and  West  Asbury  entered 
Pennsylvania,  west  of  the  mountains,  in  the  first  week  in  June, 
1796,  and  held  a  Conference  at  Uniontown,  where  the  pioneer 
evangelists  of  the  Monongahela,  the  Alleghany,  and  Yohogany 
greeted  him,  and  by  the  last  week  in  July  we  find  him  again 
preaching  and  "  meeting  classes  in  the  city  "  of  Philadelphia. 
He  prepared  a  subscription  paper  for  the  relief  of  suffering 
preachers  and  their  families,  and  then  "  hasted  with  it  from 
house  to  house."  On  the  15th  of  August  he  rode  into  New 
York  to  repeat  the  thorough  work  he  usually  performed  there — 
in  "  meeting  classes,  and  visiting  from  house  to  house  a  good 
deal  of  the  time  in  the  day,  and  frequently  preaching  at  night." 
He  spent  more  than  two  weeks  there  at  this  hottest  part  of 
the  year,  "  generally  walking  three  or  four  miles  a  day,  pray- 
ing ten   or  twelve  times  in  the  congregation,  families,  and 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  295 

classes,"  and  closing  the  day  with  a  sermon  or  a.  social  relig- 
ious meeting.  On  one  Sunday  we  find  him  preaching  three 
times  and  leading  six  classes.  He  ended  the  visit  with  a  meet- 
ing of  all  the  city  class  leaders  "  in  close  conference,"  another 
meeting  of  the  trustees  on  the  same  day,  and  then,  "after 
going  hither  and  thither,"  preached  in  the  evening.  We  can- 
not be  surprised  that,  with  such  a  leader,  the  ministry  and 
people  of  early  Methodism  were  kept  continually  astir.  As- 
bury's  own  character  and  example,  maintained  with  unwaver- 
ing fidelity  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his  episcopal 
career,  afford  an  obvious  solution  to  the  problem  of  the  energy 
and  success  of  the  denomination.  He  passed  again  into 
New  England,  returned  to  Baltimore,  holding  Conferences  at 
New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  prepared,  at  Perry  Hall,  for 
the  next  General  Conference. 

Methodism,  in  its  denser  communities  of  the  Middle  and 
Northern  States,  though  prosperous  during  this  period, 
presents  few  of  those  salient  events  which  mark  its  history 
in  its  remoter  fields.  It  was  here  established,  and  compara- 
tively tranquil.  At  the  beginning  of  the  period  George 
Pickering  appears  on  the  Dover  Circuit,  Delaware;  and 
though  he  had,  as  already  intimated,  a  brief  previous  training 
in  the  itinerancy  of  the  South,  yet  he  legitimately  belongs 
at  this  time  to  the  Church  of  the  Middle  States,  being  not 
only  a  laborer  in  its  fields,  but  having  entered  it  and  begun 
to  preach  in  Philadelphia.  He  was  born  in  Talbot  County, 
Maryland,  in  1769,  converted  in  St.  George's  Church,  Phila- 
delphia, when  eighteen  years  old,  and  almost  immediately 
began  his  public  labors.  In  1790  he  was  received  on  proba- 
tion by  the  Conference.  He  lived  to  be  the  oldest  active 
preacher  in  the  itinerancy,  and  in  his  semi-centenary  sermon 
remarked :  "  When  I  joined  there  were  but  about  five  con- 
ferences, two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  traveling  preachers, 
forty-six  thousand  white,  and  eleven  or  twelve  thousand 
colored  members.  Five  or  six  only  of  those  ministers  are  now 
living,  and  I  only  continue  in  the  itinerancy.  I  am  now  an 
old  man,  and  shall  not  labor  much  longer  with  you ;  but  go 
on,  my  brethren ;  preach  Jesus,  preach  with  the  Holy  Ghost. 


296  HISTORY   OF   THE 

Preacli  to  the  people  the  blessed  doctrine  of  holiness,  it  is  the 
only  thing  that  will  bind  the  Methodist  Church  together. 
Pray  for  me,  my  brethren,  and  the  blessing  of  an  old  man  be 
upon  you."  He  said  this  in  1840,  in  the  far  East,  where  he 
then  stood  a  pillar  of  New  England  Methodism,  and  a  patri- 
arch of  the  denomination,  venerated  through  all  its  borders. 

In  person  he  was  tall,  slight,  and  perfectly  erect.  His  coun- 
tenance was  expressive  of  energy,  shrewdness,  self-command, 
and  benignity  ;  and  in  advanced  life  his  silvered  locks,  combed 
precisely  behind  his  ears,  gave  him  a  strikingly  venerable  ap- 
pearance. The  exactitude  of  his  mind  extended  to  all  his 
physical  habits.  In  pastoral  labors,  exercise,  diet,  sleep,  and 
dress,  he  followed  a  fixed  course,  which  scarcely  admitted  of 
deviation.  In  the  last  respect  he  was  peculiarly  neat,  holding, 
with  an  old  divine,  that  "  cleanliness  comes  next  to  holiness." 
He  continued  to  the  last  to  wear  the  plain  Quaker-like  dress  of 
the  first  Methodist  ministry,  and  none  could  be  more  con- 
gruous with  the  bearing  of  his  person  and  his  venerable  aspect. 
His  voice  was  clear  and  powerful,  and  his  step  firm  to  the  end. 
His  personal  habits  had  the  mechanical  regularity  of  clock- 
work. During  his  itinerant  life  he  devoted  to  his  family,  re- 
siding permanently  at  one  place,  a  definite  portion  of  his  time ; 
but  even  these  domestic  visits  were  subjected  to  the  most 
stringent  regularity.  In  half  a  century  of  married  life  he 
spent,  upon  an  average,  but  about  one  fifth  of  his  time  at  home, 
an  aggregate  often  years  out  of  fifty.  This  rigor  may  indeed 
have  been  too  severe.  It  reminds  us  of  the  noble  but  defective 
virtue  of  the  old  Koman  character.  If  business  called  him  to 
the  town  of  his  family  residence  at  other  times  than  those  ap- 
propriated to  his  domestic  visits,  he  returned  to  his  post  of 
labor  without  crossing  the  threshold  of  his  home.  In  that  ter- 
rible calamity  which  spread  gloom  over  the  land — the  burning 
of  the  steamer  Lexington  by  night  on  Long  Island  Sound — he 
lost  a  beloved  daughter.  The  intensity  of  the  affliction  was 
not  capable  of  enhancement,  yet  he  stood  firmly  on  his  minis- 
ministerial  watchtower,  though  with  a  bleeding  heart,  while 
his  family,  but  a  few  miles  distant,  were  frantic  with  anguish. 
Not  till  the  due  time  did  he  return  to  them.     When  it  arrived 


•      METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  297 

he  entered  the  house  with  a  sorrow-smitten  spirit,  pressed  in 
silence  the  hand  of  his  wife,  and,  without  uttering  a  word,  re- 
tired to  an  adjacent  room,  where  he  spent  some  hours  in  soli- 
tude and  unutterable  grief.  Such  a  man  reminds  us  of  Brutus, 
and,  in  the  heroic  times,  would  have  been  commemorated  as 
superhuman.  lie  was  seldom,  if  ever,  known  to  occupy  three 
minutes  at  a  time  in  the  discussions  (usually  so  diffuse)  of  the 
Annual  Conferences,  and  the  directness  of  his  sentences  and 
the  pertinence  of  his  counsels  always  indicated  the  practical 
sage. 

Ezekiel  Cooper  was,  down  to  our  own  day,  one  of  the  rep- 
resentative men  of  Methodism,  and  was  particularly  promi- 
nent during  most  of  the  present  period  by  his  superior  abilities 
in  the  pulpits  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  Like  Wells 
and  Pickering,  he  became  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Church  in 
New  England,  lived  long  enough  to  attain  the  distinction  of 
being  the  oldest  member  of  any  Methodist  conference  in  the 
western  hemisphere,  and  only  one  survived  in  the  old  world 
who  had  preceded  him.  His  personal  appearance  embodied 
the  finest  ideal  of  age,  intelligence,  and  tranquil  piety.  His 
frame  was  tall  and  slight,  his  locks  white  with  years,  his  fore- 
head high  and  prominent,  and  his  features  expressive  of  reflec- 
tion and  serenity.  A  wen  had  been  enlarging  on  his  neck 
from  his  childhood,  but  without  detracting  from  the  peculiarly 
elevated  and  characteristic  expression  of  his  face.  He  was  con- 
sidered by  his  ministerial  associates  "a  living  encyclopaedia" 
in  respect  not  only  to  theology,  but  most  other  departments 
of  knowledge,  and  his  large  and  accurate  information  was  only 
surpassed  by  the  range  and  soundness  of  his  judgment.  He 
sustained  a  pre-eminent  position  in  the  Church  during  most  of 
its  history. 

John  M'Claskey  during  these  times  was  leader,  as  presiding 
elder,  of  a  host  of  powerful  men  on  the  Philadelphia  and  New 
Jersey  Districts,  the  latter  including  all  the  state  and  a  part 
of  that  of  New  York.  He  also  occupied  the  stations  of  Balti- 
more and  Philadelphia  at  intervals  of  this  period.  He  was 
one  of  the  Methodistic  apostles  of  the  Middle  States  till 
1814,  when  his  health  failed,  and  he  fell,  with  a  triumphant 


298  HISTORY    OF    THE 

death,  at  the  head  of  the  Chesapeake  District.  He  held  a 
high  rank  among  the  many  gifted  preachers  which  Ireland 
has  given  to  American  Methodism,  and  was  a  natural  orator, 
with  a  fervid  imagination,  a  warm  heart,  and  a  singular 
readiness  of  speech.  His  enthusiasm  in  the  pulpit  frequently 
rose  into  sublime  and  irresistible  power.  His  voice  had  un- 
common sweetness,  and  he  could  command  it  as  a  flute  or  a 
trumpet. 

Lawrence  M'Combs  began  his  travels  at  the  beginning  of 
this  period,  a  youth  of  twenty-three  years,  full  of  strength  and 
ardor.  His  labors,  for  more  than  forty  years,  were  in  New 
England  (for  five  years)  and  the  Middle  States  as  far  as  Balti- 
more. He  became  one  of  "  the  giants  of  those  days."  "  ]STo 
hostility  could  intimidate  him  in  the  course  of  duty,  nor  could 
any  provocation  betray  him  into  petulance  or  resentment.  In 
stature  he  was  full  six  feet  in  height,  with  a  finely  developed 
form,  though  not  corpulent ;  the  breadth  of  his  chest  indicated 
the  prodigious  strength  which  enabled  him  to  perform  his  al- 
most gigantic  labors.  The  general  expression  of  his  counte- 
nance betokened  intelligence,  gentleness,  and  energy  ;  while  his 
full,  frank  face  was  illumined  by  his  ever-kindling  eye.  His 
voice  was  full,  clear,  and  of  great  flexibility,  sweeping  from 
the  lowest  to  the  highest  tone,  and  modulated  in  the  most  deli- 
cate manner,  in  beautiful  harmony  with  his  subject.  In  preach- 
ing in  the  field,  which  was  his  favorite  arena,  he  was  quite  an 
approach  to  Whitefield." 

Thomas  Morrell  is  one  of  the  most  familiar  names  in  our 
early  records,  as  an  able  preacher,  an  itinerant  of  long  and 
very  general  service,  and  a  traveling  companion  of  Asbury. 
At  the  very  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  young  Morrell  ha- 
rangued his  fellow-youth  of  the  town  on  the  news  from  Lexing- 
ton and  Concord,  formed  a  company  of  volunteers,  and  led 
them  to  the  army.  He  was  honored  by  Congress  with  com- 
missions as  captain  and  major.  He  was  severely  wounded  in 
the  battle  of  Long  Island,  and  shared  in  other  hard  service  of 
the  war.  He  always  retained  the  friendship  of  "Washington, 
and  personally  conducted  the  official  interview  of  the  Method- 
ist bishops  with  the  great  first  president  in  1789,  in  which  the 


METHODISE    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  299 

denomination  was  the  first  of  American  Churches  to  recognize 
publicly  the  new  government.  He  was  received  by  the  Con- 
ference in  1787,  and  appointed  to  Staten  Island  Circuit,  which 
included  his  native  town.  He  subsequently  labored  in  the 
cities  of  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  Charleston. 
It  was  near  the  end  of  1791  that  he  left  his  station  at  New 
York  to  accompany  Asbury  to  the  South.  His  experience  as 
a  soldier  gave  zest  to  the  adventures  which  he  had  to  share 
with  the  bishop  on  this  tour.  Coke,  Asbury,  and  Wesley  be- 
came his  correspondents,  and  he  stood  forth  now  among  the 
foremost  men  of  American  Methodism,  occupying  the  most 
important  stations  of  the  Church  till  1804,  when,  his  health 
again  failing,  he  was  compelled  to  retire  to  Elizabethtown, 
where,  however,  he  continued  to  labor  as  a  supernumerary, 
"  preaching  as  often  as  when  he  traveled,"  for  sixteen  years, 
and  building  up  the  denomination  in  all  that  region. 

Thomas  Ware  wras  active  in  the  itinerancy  during  our  pres- 
ent period.  After  spending  a  part  of  1792  on  Staten  Island 
Circuit,  then  reaching  far  into  New  Jersey,  he  was  appointed 
presiding  elder  on  the  Susquehanna  District,  a  vast  and  rug- 
ged field,  comprising  six  large  circuits.  In  1793  he  took  charge 
of  Garrettson's  great  field,  or,  at  least,  the  northern  part  of  it, 
then  called  the  Albany  District.  It  was,  he  writes,  immensely 
large,  and  the  country  principally  new.  Accommodations  for 
the  preachers  were,  for  the  most  part,  poor,  and  the  means  of 
their  support  extremely  limited.  While  passing  through  one 
of  the  circuits,  soon  after  he  came  on  the  district,  he  called  at 
the  preacher's  house,  who  happened  at  that  time  to  be  at  home. 
It  was  near  noon,  and  he,  of  course,  must  dine  there.  The 
poor  itinerant  had  a  wife  and  seven  children  ;  and  their  bill  of 
fare  was  one  blackberry  pie,  with  rye  crust,  without  either 
butter  or  lard  to  shorten  it.  After  they  had  dined,  and  Ware 
was  about  to  depart,  he  put  a  few  dollars  into  the  hands  of  his 
suffering  brother,  who,  on  receiving  them,  sat  down  and  wept 
so  heartily  that  Ware  could  not  avoid  weeping  with  him. 
"  The  Lord  was  with  us,"  he  adds,  "  in  a  very  glorious  manner, 
at  some  of  our  quarterly  meetings,  during  the  first  quarter ; 
and  there  appeared  to  be  a  general  expectation  that  he  would 


300  HISTOEY    OF    THE 

do  still  greater  things  for  us  throughout  the  vast  field  we  had 
to  cultivate.  Here,  as  in  Tennessee,  there  were  multitudes  of 
people  wholly  destitute  of  the  Gospel,  until  it  was  brought  to 
them  by  the  Methodists."  There  were  many  small  settlements 
without  any  religious  provisions  whatever  till  the  itinerants 
reached  them.  They  flew  from  one  to  another,  preaching  con- 
tinually, and  in  our  day  we  see  the  results  of  their  labors  and 
sufferings  in  prosperous  Churches,  studding  all  the  "  parts  of 
four  states"  which,  says  Ware,  were  "  embraced  in  my  district." 
He  had  a  corps  of  indomitable  men  under  his  command,  such 
as  Hezekiah  C.  Wooster,  Elijah  Woolsey,  Aaron  Hunt,  James 
Coleman,  Shadrach  Bostwiek,  John  Finnegan,  and  many 
others — men  who  could  not  fail  to  awaken  a  sensation  of  pub- 
lic interest,  favorable  or  hostile,  wherever  they  appeared. 
Through  incredible  labors  and  sufferings  they  were  now  laying 
the  broad  foundations  of  the  Church  along  most  of  the  extent 
of  the  Hudson. 

We  have  already  noticed  the  extraordinary  rise  of  Method- 
ism in  the  Wyoming,  Cumberland,  and  Tioga  regions,  and  the 
outspread  of  the  Hudson  River  District,  by  Garrettson's  and 
Ware's  itinerants,  to  those  then  remote  fields — the  labors  of 
Anning  Owen,  Nathaniel  B.  Mills,  and  William  Colbert. 
Ware's  trials  among  the  Tioga  wilds  were  fully  shared  by  his 
associates.  Colbert  set  out  from  the  General  Conference  of 
1792  for  this  wilderness,  confronting  wintry  hardships  most 
of  the  way,  and  arriving  at  Nanticoke,  in  Wyoming  Yalley, 
early  in  December.  His  story  of  privation  and  suffering  seems 
almost  incredible.  We  read  of  his  breakfasting  on  a  frozen 
turnip ;  sleeping  at  night  in  a  wretched  cabin,  with  his  head 
a  in  the  chimney-corner ;"  fording  streams ;  living  on  the  poor- 
est fare ;  preaching  in  cabins,  sometimes  with  "  part  of  the 
congregation  drunk,"  at  others  "  with  children  about  him 
bawling  louder  than  he  could  speak ;"  and  receiving,  for  the 
four  months  of  his  toil,  "  three  dollars  and  fourteen  cents." 
Ware  reaches  him  ready  to  share  his  trials.  "  At  one  place," 
writes  Colbert,  "  we  could  get  no  straw  to  sleep  on ;  however, 
Brother  Ware  fixed  himself  on  a  chest,  with  a  bunch  of  tow 
for  his  pillow,  and  I  suppose  thought  himself  well  off.     For  my 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  301 

part,  I  had  to  get  hay  out  of  a  boat  for  my  bed,  part  of 
which  a  passenger  begged."  "  Though  the  life  of  a  Methodist 
preacher  is  very  laborious  and  fatiguing,"  he  adds,  "  it  is  what 
I  glory  in !  "  Such  are  mere  examples  of  the  primitive  itin- 
erancy of  Methodism  in  the  wilderness ;  but  through  such 
struggles  has  come  the  prosperity  of  later  years.  The  Church 
is  now  ineradicably  planted  throughout  most  of  these  valleys. 
Chapels,  schools,  comfortable  houses,  all  the  blessings  of  ad- 
vanced Christian  civilization,  enrich  their  romantic  scenery ; 
and  from  them  have  gone  forth  some  of  the  ablest  preachers 
of  the  denomination.  Its  most  celebrated  native  pulpit 
orator,  long  a  laborer  in  its  institutions  of  learning,  and  a 
bishop  in  its  Southern  section,  (Bishop  Bascom,)  received  his 
first  effective  religious  impressions  at  one  of  the  humblest  ap- 
pointments of  Colbert's  Tioga  Circuit. 

Colbert  passed  to  the  Wyoming  Circuit,  and  had  similar,  if 
not  as  severe,  trials  there.  From  Wyoming  he  went  to  North- 
umberland Circuit.  Asbury  appreciated  such  men.  From 
not  only  a  sympathy  with  their  sufferings,  but  a  real  relish  for 
their  heroic  kind  of  life,  he  seemed  ever  anxious  to  get  among 
them,  and  in  1793  he  plunged  into  these  Pennsylvania  val- 
leys on  his  northward  tour,  accompanied  by  some  of  the  near- 
est preachers  on  his  route.  Colbert  exulted  in  the  visit? 
"  very  much' rejoiced  to  see  four  preachers  in  this  part  of  the 
world."  Only  about  five  years  had  passed  since  Anning  Owen, 
"  the  blacksmith "  and  itinerant  preacher,  had  formed  the 
first  Methodist  Society  of  that  region  at  Koss  Hill,  Wyoming. 
Methodism  had  fought  its  way  steadily  from  valley  to  valley. 
One  hundred  and  seventy-seven  members  had  been  reported, 
and  two  circuits  organized  and  supplied  with  itinerants,  who 
kept  the  trumpet  of  the  Gospel  sounding  through  all  the 
mountains,  though,  as  Asbury  wrote  to  Morrell  from  Wyo- 
ming, at  this  visit,  "  our  poor  preachers  keep  Lent  a  great 
part  of  the  year  here."  They  saved  much  of  the  rude  popula- 
tion of  that  early  day,  and  prepared  the  way  for  the  reception 
of  new  settlers,  some  of  whom  came  from  the  older  fields  of 
Methodism,  and  were  fitted  to  fortify  the  incipient  Church. 
Colbert  was  "  a  born  pioneer ;"  he  could  not  long  remain  in 


302  HISTORY   OF  THE 

any  one  place.  Thornton  Fleming,  a  similar  evangelist,  came 
along  through  these  yet  obscure  wildernesses  as  "  elder,"  and 
bound  on  an  evangelical  exploration  of  the  interior  and  west- 
ern parts  of  New  York,  "  the  lake  country."  Colbert  hailed 
him  with  gladness,  and  they  went  onward  rejoicing  and 
preaching  together.  He  thus  becomes  transferred  temporarily 
to  a  new  scene,  and  we  can  trace  him  for  some  time  founding 
Societies  in  that  beautiful  and  flourishing  region,  now  the  gar- 
den of  both  the  State  and  the  Church,  but  then  dotted  with  a 
few  settlements  "  scattered  through  the  wilderness,  the  hardy 
settlers  sharing  the  country  with  the  aboriginal  inhabitants." 
Colbert  returned ;  but  in  the  year  1794  we  find  Fleming  com- 
manding a  district  with  two  long  circuits,  called  Seneca  and 
Tioga. 

Another  notable  itinerant  appears  in  this  field  in  1794  and 
1 705,  Valentine  Cook,  whom  we  shall  soon  hail  again  in  the 
far  West.     While  Asbury  was  passing  through  these  valleys 
he  wrote  to  Morrell  that  he  "  had  found  a  vast  body  of  Dutch 
there,"  and  wished  him  to  dispatch  Cook  to  them,  because  he 
could  preach  in  their  language.     Cook   appeared   upon   the 
scene,  in  Wyoming,  in  the  stormy  month  of  December,  1793, 
while  Colbert  retreated  to  his  former  field  on  the  Western 
Shore  of  Maryland,  but  to  return  again  in  due  time.     Cook 
now  went  over  the  country  rousing  all  its  settlements.     Ee 
was  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  primitive  Methodist  ministry. 
He  was  born  among  the  western  mountains  of  Virginia,  in  the 
"Greenbrier  country,"    now   Monroe  County,   about    1705; 
became  a  famous  hunter,  but,  having  a  mind  of  unusual  vigor, 
devoted  himself  to  study,  as  far  as  his  limited  means  would 
admit,  spent  some  time  at  Cokesbury  College,  and  acquired 
the  Greek  and  Latin  languages,  and  such  a  knowledge  of  the 
German  as  to  speak  and   preach  in   it   with  great  fluency. 
The  historian  of  Methodism  in  these  wildernesses  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  New  York  says  :  "  He  had  the  reputation  of  a  man 
of  learning,  and  no  one  doubted  that  he  was  a  man  of  decided 
talents.     His  sermons  took  the  citadel  of  the  heart  by  storm. 
The  people  in   multitudes  flocked  to  hear  him,  and  the  powei 
of  God  attended  his  preaching  in  a  wonderful  manner."     Meth- 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  303 

odism  extended  rapidly,  under  the  labors  of  such  men,  among 
the  new  settlements  east  of  the  Cayuga,  and  between  the  Ca- 
yuga and  Seneca  Lakes.  A  circuit  was  this  year  formed,  called 
after  the  latter.  In  the  present  day,  with  the  hardly  sur- 
passed improvements  and  intercommunications  of  this  part  of 
New  York,  we  can  scarcely  credit  the  Method istic  traditions  of 
those  early  times :  the  poor  fare  of  the  preachers,  the  hard 
struggles  of  the  infant  societies,  the  long  journeys  through 
forests  and  over  streams  and  mountains  (sometimes  on  foot  for 
twenty-five  or  thirty  miles)  to  hear  Colbert,  Cook,  Fleming, 
Brodhead,  Turck,  Smith,  and  other  itinerants  at  quarterly 
meetings,  and  the  vast  sensation  which  spread  out  from  these 
occasions  over  the  new  country,  stirring  up  the  scattered  pop- 
ulation to  favor  or  hostility.  A  letter  from  Cook  to  James 
Smith,  one  of  his  preachers,  remains,  in  which  he  says :  "  I 
have  now  walked  near  sixty  or  seventy  miles,  and  am  within 
ten  miles  of  the  head  of  the  lakes,  at  Mr.  Weiburn's,  who  I 
somewhat  expect  will  lend  me  a  beast,  as  I  am  obliged  to 
leave  my  horse  with  but  small  hopes  of  his  recovery.  Yester- 
day I  walked  upward  of  thirty  miles  in  mud  and  water,  being 
wet  all  day  without ;  yet  heaven  was  within.  Glory  to  God  ! 
I  had  three  tempters  to  encounter,  the  devil,  the  mosquitoes, 
and  my  horse ;  and  the  rain  and  my  wet  clothes  were  my 
element,  and  God  my  comforter,  and  victory  my  white  horse. 
Hitherto,  O  Lord,  hast  thou  been  my  helper,  and  I  trust  thou 
wilt  save  to  the  end.  Brother  Fleming  is  to  take  my  appoint- 
ments through  Tioga.  I  mean  to  overtake  him  if  possible,  and 
get  him  to  attend  the  quarterly  meetings  downward  in  my 
stead,  and  so  return  to  the  Lakes  Circuit  in  a  few  weeks,  all 
which  I  shall  have  to  do  afoot .  if  I  can't  get  a  horse.  My 
trials  are  furious,  but  I  am  not  discouraged." 

The  Minutes  of  1796  reported  three  circuits  in  this  western- 
most region  of  the  Northern  Methodist  field :  Wyoming  with 
two  hundred  and  twenty-one  members,  Tioga  with  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-eight,  Seneca  with  two  hundred  and  fifteen.  It 
was  yet  "  the  day  of  small  things ;"  the  Church  was  feeble, 
but  the  country  was  new.  Methodism  was  securing  and 
breaking   up  the  fallow  ground,  and  to-day  we  witness  the 


304  HISTORY    OF    THE 

growth  of  both  the  Church  and  the  country,  "  shaking  like 
Lebanon." 

The  denomination  extended  into  many  new  parts  of  these 
Middle  States  during  the  present  period.  The  migration  of 
Methodist  families,  especially  of  local  preachers,  founded  it  in 
many  communities  which  it  had  not  before  reached.  The 
itinerants  were  incessantly  ramifying  their  circuits  to  new 
appointments.  In  the  principal  cities  it  was  full  of  vigor. 
Philadelphia  had  reported,  in  1792,  but  three  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  members ;  in  1796  it  reported  five  hundred  and 
forty-four.  New  York  had  advanced  from  six  hundred  and 
forty-one  to  seven  hundred  and  eighty-six.  Its  second  or  For- 
syth-street  Church  was  thronged,  and  it  was  already  projecting 
a  third,  on  Duane-street,  which  was  begun  in  1797.  Little 
impression  had  been  made  on  Albany,  but  it  was  surrounded 
by  Methodist  labors,  and  was  the  head  of  a  circuit  which 
reported  three  hundred  and  thirty-seven  members.  Garrett- 
son  had  dedicated,  in  1791,  a  small  church,  about  thirty-two 
by  forty-four  feet,  in  the  city,  on  the  corner  of  Orange  and 
Pearl  streets,  but  it  did  not  become  a  station  till  1798.  Mean- 
while ministerial  explorations  wTere  going  on  in  all  the  more 
northern  regions.  One  of  the  explorers,  Richard  Jacobs,  sac- 
rificed his  life  in  his  mission,  in  1796.  He  belonged  to  a 
wealthy  Congregational  family,  of  Berkshire  County,  Massa- 
chusetts', which  had  cast  him  out  and  disinherited  him  at  his 
conversion  to  Methodism.  "With  his  young  wife  he  was 
thrown  penniless  upon  the  world."  He  joined  Garrettson's 
famous  young  band  of  northern  pioneers,  and,  in  1796,  left 
his  family  at  Clifton  Park,  to  make  an  expedition  as  far  as 
Essex  and  Clinton  Counties,  proclaiming  the  Gospel  among 
the  scattered  settlers  of  that  remote  region.  Many  were  awak- 
ened and  converted  at  Elizabethtown,  and,  promising  them  a 
pastor,  he  pushed  along  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Champlain, 
preaching  as  he  went,  till,  joined  by  a  lay  companion,  he  pro- 
posed to  make  his  way  back  to  his  family,  through  the  Schroon 
woods  to  the  head  of  Lake  George.  For  about  seven  days  the 
two  travelers  were  engulfed  in  the  forests,  suffering  fearful 
privations,   and    struggling    against    almost    insurmountable 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHUKCH.  305 

obstructions.  "  Their  provisions  failed ;  they  were  exhausted 
with  fatigue  and  hunger ;  and,  at  last,  in  trying  to  ford  the 
Schroon  Kiver,  Jacobs  sunk  beneath  the  water  and  was 
drowned.  All  his  family,"  adds  the  narrator  of  the  sad  event, 
"  were  converted,  three  of  his  sons  became  ministers,  and  two 
of  his  daughters  married  Methodist  preachers." 

There  were  about  forty  Methodists  in  the  village  of  Brook- 
lyn, the  germ  of  a  rich  harvest ;  and  there  were  now  about  350 
on  Long  Island.  Methodism  was  extending  from  town  to 
town  on  this  beautiful  island.  From  the  labors  of  good  Cap- 
tain Webb  tP  the  present  time  it  has  found  a  fertile  soil  there, 
yielding  in  our  day  a  harvest  of  15,000  members,  with  60 
pastors. 

At  the  close  of  the  present  period  there  were  in  the  Middle 
States  more  than  11,600  Methodists.  Delaware  reported 
2,228 ;  Pennsylvania,  3,011 ;  New  Jersey,  2,351 ;  New  York, 
4,044. 

Meanwhile  the  struggling  cause  was  advancing  in  still  more 
northern  fields.  We  have  seen  its  providential  introduction 
into  Canada.  John  Lawrence,  a  devoted  Methodist,  who  ac- 
companied Embury  from  Ireland,  and  was  one  of  the  five  per- 
sons in  his  first  congregation  in  New  York,  married  his  widow, 
and  with  the  Hecks,  and  others  of  the  society  at  Ashgrove,  left 
the  United  States,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary 
war,  for  Lower  Canada,  where  they  remained  (mostly  in  Mon- 
treal) about  eleven  years.  In  1785  they  again  journeyed  into 
the  wilderness,  and  settled  on  "  Lot  number  four,  third  Con- 
cession," of  what  is  now  the  town  of  Augusta,  in  Upper 
Canada.  Here  their  peculiar  work,  theft*  providential  mis- 
sion, as  I  have  ventured  to  call  it,  was  resumed.  They  were 
still  pioneers  and  founders  of  Methodism ;  and  in  the  house  of 
John  and  Catharine  Lawrence  (the  widow  of  Embury)  was 
organized  the  first  "  class  "  of  Augusta,  and  Samuel  Embury, 
the  son  of  Philip,  was  its  first  leader.  Paul  and  Barbara  Heck 
were  among  its  first  members,  and  their  three  sons  were  also 
recorded  on  its  roll.  They  were  thus  to  anticipate  and,  in  part, 
prepare  the  way  for  the  Methodist  itinerancy  in  Canada,  as 
they  had  at  New  York  city  and  in  Northern  New  York ;  for 

20 


306  niSTOKY    OF   THE 

William  Losee,  the  first  regular  Methodist  preacher  in  the 
province,  did  not  enter  it,  as  has  been  shown,  till  1790.  The 
germ  of  Canadian  Methodism  was  planted  by  these  memorable 
families  five  or  six  years  before  Losee's  arrival. 

We  have  traced  the  subsequent  progress  of  the  denomination, 
in  Canada,  through  the  labors  of  Tuppey,  Neal,  M'Carty,  Lyons, 
and  Losee,  down  to  1792.  Losee,  not  being  an  elder,  was  ac- 
companied to  the  province  in  the  latter  year  by  Darius  Dun- 
ham, who  was  competent  to  administer  the  sacraments.  Dun- 
ham worked  mightily  in  this  hard  field,  the  difficulties  of 
which  he  continued  to  brave,  most  of  the  time  ^as  presiding 
elder,  down  to  1800,  when  he  located,  through  domestic  neces- 
sities, and  settled  on  the  Bay  of  Quinte  as  a  physician,  but 
continued  to  preach  till  the  end  of  his  life.  He  "  was  a  charac- 
ter :  a  man  of  small  stature,  but  full  of  vigor,  compact,  formi- 
dable, with  coarse,  bushy  eyebrows,"  and  a  tremendous  voice, 
which  often  sent  trembling  through  his  rude  congregations. 

Methodism  was  now  completely  organized  in  the  province, 
with  three  circuits,  classes,  societies,  the  sacraments,  and 
all  other  essential  provisions  of  a  Church.  It  was  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  General  Conference,  and  the  episcopal  ad- 
ministration of  Asbury.  The  denomination  thus  took  actual 
precedence  of  the  English  Church  there,  as  it  had  of  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States. 
It  was  not  till  1793  that  the  British  government,  reserving  one 
seventh  of  the  lands  of  Canada  for  an  ecclesiastical  endowment, 
sent  out  Dr.  Mountain  as  bishop  of  Quebec,  with  spiritual  ju- 
risdiction over  the  province,  and  he  found  but  three  or  four 
clergymen  of  his  Cnurch  dispersed  through  the  immense  terri- 
tory. No  appointments  appear  in  the  Minutes  for  1793 ; 
doubtless  a  clerical  omission,  as  the  returns  of  members  (349) 
are  given.  In  1794  Dunham  was  appointed  the  first  presiding 
elder  of  Canada,  and  two  young  itinerant  recruits,  James  Cole- 
man and  Elijah  Woolsey,  hastened  to  his  solitary  standard. 
At  the  close  of  the  year  the  evangelists  reported  four  hundred 
and  eighty-three  members,  omitting  those  of  Woolsey's  circuit, 
which  are  not  recorded.  The  little  corps  of  itinerants  had 
raised  up  a  single  recruit,  Sylvanus  Keeler,  who  appears  with 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  307 

them  in  the  Minutes  this  year  (1795)  as  the  colleague  of  Woo'l- 
sey,  on  the  Bay  of  Quinte  Circuit.  "He  proved,"  says  the 
Canadian  chronicler  of  the  Church,  "  a  good  and  faithful 
minister  of  Christ."  We  trace  him  through  about  twelve 
years  of  hard  labor  on  various  circuits  in  the  province,  at  the 
close  of  which  he  retires  into  the  "local  ranks,"  the  fate  of 
most  of  his  ministerial  brethren  in  those  days  of  the  poverty 
of  the  Church,  when  the  necessities  of  their  growing  families ' 
compelled  them  to  resort  to  other  means  of  support,  but  seldom 
or  never  to  abandon  their  Sabbath  labors.  Sylvanus  Keeler 
retreated  to  a  farm  in  Elizabethtown,  near  Brockville,  where, 
and  in  the  surrounding  country,  he  continued  to  preach  "  all 
his  days."  He  became  a  patriarch  among  the  Societies,  his 
hair  "wool-white,  long,  flowing  down  upon  his  shoulders;" 
his  "voice  deep,  yet  soft  as  the  roll  of  thunder  in  the  dis- 
tance." To  him  belongs,  so  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  the  enviable 
distinction  of  having  been  the  first  native  Methodist  itinerant 
of  Canada,  and  he  gave  his  whole  ministerial  life  to  its 
people. 

In  1796  Dunham  and  Coleman  returned  to  the  province, 
accompanied  by  two  new  laborers,  men  of  note,  Samuel  Coate 
and  Hezekiah  C.  WooSter.  Wooster  was  a  man  of  extraordi- 
nary power.  The  rigors  of  the  climate,  and  the  excess  of  his 
labors,  injured  his  health,  and  in  1798  he  was  seized  with  pul- 
monary consumption.  Yet  he  did  not  immediately  give  up 
his  ministrations,  and  his  marvelous  power  over  his  hearers 
continued  even  when  he  could  no  longer  speak  loud  enough  to 
be  heard  except  by  those  who  stood  immediately  around  him. 
It  is  authentically  recorded,  that  when  so  far  reduced  as  to  be 
unable  to  speak  above  a  whisper,  his  broken  utterance,  con- 
veyed by  another  to  the  assembly,  would  thrill  them  like  a 
trumpet,  and  fall  with  such  power  on  the  attention  of  the 
hearers  that  stout-hearted  men  were  smitten  down  to  the  floor ; 
and  his  very  aspect  is  said  to  have  so  shone  with  "  the  divine 
glory  that  it  struck  conviction  into  the  hearts  of  many  who 
beheld  it."  With  such  men,  of  course,  the  whole  region  of 
their  travels  was  soon  in  agitation.  Bangs  says  that  a  great  re 
vival  ensued  which  extended  far  into  the  States.    The  Societies 


308  HISTORY   OF   THE 

were  now  rapidly  multiplied,  the  circuits  extended  in  every 
direction,  and  at  the  next  Conference  nearly  eight  hundred 
(795)  members  were  reported — a  gain  of  321  for  the  year, 
averaging  more  than  eighty  for  the  labors  of  each  preacher. 

Methodism  was  thus  spreading  effectively  through  all  these 
middle  and  northern  sections  of  its  vast  field.  It  already 
arrayed  within  them  an  army  of  more  than  a  hundred  and 
twenty-four  thousand  (124,029)  members.  Its  ministry  had 
become  a  mighty  force,  in  numbers  and  character.  Humble 
edifices  were  rising  rapidly,  temporary  sanctuaries,  destined  to 
give  way  in  our  day  to  commodious  and  beautiful  temples. 
Its  people  were  generally  poor  and  illiterate,  but  there  were  not 
a  few  families  of  wealth  and  high  social  position  interspersed 
among  them.  That  its  foundations,  now  laid,  were  substantial 
and  broad,  its  subsequent  history  has  attested. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  309 


CHAPTEE  XXL 

METHODISM  IN  THE  EASTERN  STATES:    1792-1796. 

I  HAVE  recorded  the  progress  of  Methodism  in  the  Eastern 
States  from  its  origin  in  1789  down  to  the  first  New  England 
Conference  in  1792.  Lee  went  from  this  session  to  the  General 
Conference  at  Baltimore,  and  afterward  to  his  paternal  home 
in  Virginia,  vrhere  he  spent  about  five  months  preaching  con- 
tinually, and  making  excursions,  to  counteract  the  schism  of 
O'Kelly.  On  the  20th  of  February,  1793,  he  re-entered  Bos- 
ton with  horse  and  saddle-bags,  in  the  fashion  of  the  primitive 
Methodist  itinerancy.  He  arrived  after  dark,  much  fatigued, 
"  and  with  wet  feet,"  from  the  wintry  slush  of  the  roads.  His 
recollections  of  Boston  could  not  be  the  most  cheering,  but  he 
now  found  there  a  warm  welcome,  and  "  was  comforted,"  he 
says,  "  with  the  Boston  class,  which  met  soon  after  I  got  at 
Mr.  Burrill's."  The  next  day  he  hastened  with  a  glad  heart  to 
his  "old  friends"  at  Lynn,  feeling  "thankful  to  God  for  bring- 
ing him  back  again,"  and  still  more  thankful  to  find  "  that 
religion  had  revived  among  the  people  "  in  his  absence.  He 
continued  about  three  weeks  in  Lynn  and  its  vicinity,  but  as  it 
was  supplied  by  the  services  of  Rainor  he  departed  on  the  18th 
of  March  on  another  excursion  to  Rhode  Island  and  to  Con- 
necticut. During  this  tour  he  visited  Easton,  Pawtuxet,  War- 
wick, Green wich,Weckford,  Charlestown,  New  London ;  thence 
he  journeyed  to  General  Lippett's,  in  Cranston  ;  to  Providence, 
Needham,  and  on  to  Boston  ;  after  which  he  returned  to  Lynn. 
He  continued  to  travel  and  preach  almost  daily  until  the  Con- 
ference of  the  first  of  August  ensuing,  confining  himself,  how- 
ever, (if  indeed  it  can  be  called  confinement,)  mostly  to  Boston, 
Lynn,  Marblehead,  and  Salem.  Lynn  was  his  favorite  resort, 
"  he  being,"  says  his  biographer,  "  more  attached  to  it  than  to 
any  other  place  within  the  bounds  of  his  district." 


310  HISTORY    OF    THE 

On  the  21st  of  July  Asbury  again  entered  New  England 
on  his  way  to  the  second  Lynn  Conference.  He  was  weary, 
.and  had  been  sick  nearly  four  months,  but  pressed  onward, 
attending  to  his  responsible  business,  and  traveling  during 
these  months  of  illness  about  three  thousand  miles.  On  the 
first  day  of  August,  1793,  the  Conference  convened.  The 
preachers  of  the  circuits  in  Western  New  England  were 
not  present,  as  a  separate  session  had  been  appointed  for  their 
convenience  at  Tolland,  Conn.,  to  be  held  in  about  a  week 
after  the  one  at  Lynn.  Eight  preachers  were  in  attendance. 
Asbury  remarks,  "  We  have  only  about  three  hundred  mem- 
bers in  the  district;  yet  we  have  a  call  for  seven  or  eight 
preachers;  although  our  members  are  few,  our  hearers  are 
many."  The  business  of  the  session  closed  on  Saturday. 
The  preachers  addressed  themselves  forthwith  with  renewed 
zeal  to  their  toils  and  sufferings,  and  none  more  so  than 
Asbury,  who  now  mounted  his  horse,  and  set  his  face  to- 
ward the  west.  He  passed  a  short  time  at  Waltham,  in  the 
homestead  of  Benjamin  Bemis,  who  was  one  of  the  first  Meth- 
odists in  that  town,  and  whose  mansion,  sequestered  among 
hills,  and  surrounded  with  fragrant  orchards,  became  not  only 
a  sanctuary  for  the  worship  of  his  rustic  neighbors,  but  the 
favorite  home  of  the  itinerants  of  Methodism.  He  was  a  man 
of  wealth,  and  his  hospitalities  seemed  only  to  enhance  his 
prosperity.  Nearly  all  the  great  men  of  the  early  Church 
were  entertained  beneath  his  roof,  and  proclaimed  the  "  glori- 
ous Gospel "  in  the  shade  of  his  trees  to  the  assembled  yeo- 
manry of  the  town.  The  conversion  of  many  souls  has 
consecrated  the  spot,  and  its  old  historical  reminiscences  still 
endear  it  to  the  Methodists  of  the  Eastern  States.  It  became 
the  family  residence  of  Pickering,  who  married  the  daughter 
of  Bemis,  and  passed  to  heaven  amid  its  venerable  associations. 

On  Monday,  August  11,  the  Conference  met  in  Tolland, 
Conn.  This  town  was  about  the  center  of  the  region  included 
in  what  was  then  the  Tolland  Circuit.  It  was  previously  con- 
nected with  the  Hartford  Circuit,  and  the  great  reformation, 
which  had  extended  like  fire  in  stubble  through  the  latter,  un- 
der the  labors  of  Hope  Hull,  George  Koberts,  Lemuel  Smith, 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  311 

and  their  colleagues,  the  preceding  two  years,  had  left  distinct 
traces  in  Tolland.  A  small  Society  had  been  formed,  and  a 
chapel  erected  on  the  estate  of  an  excellent  townsman,  Mr. 
Howard,  who  befriended  the  infant  Church,  and  most  of  whose 
family  were  made  partakers  of  the  grace  of  life  through  its  in- 
strumentality. It  was  in  this  chapel,  then  but  partially  fin- 
ished, that  the  Conference  assembled.  Most  of  the  preachers, 
ten  or  twelve  in  number,  were  entertained  at  Howard's  hos- 
pitable house,  where,  as  with  Bemis,  Lippett,  White,  Barratt, 
Bassett,  Gough,  Rembert,  and  Russell,  the  itinerants  of  these 
times  found  sumptuous  fare  among  the  few  "  noble  "  who  be- 
lieved. The  Lynn  and  Tolland  Conferences  formed  an  exten- 
sive scheme  of  labors  ;  the  itinerant  field  in  New  England  com- 
prehended two  districts,  and  part  of  a  third,  fourteen  circuits  and 
stations,  and  twenty-five  laborers.  Enoch  Mudge  was  received 
into  the  ministry  at  Lynn,  and  bore  the  distinguished  honor  of 
being  the  first  native  Methodist  preacher  of  New  England.  He 
was  born  in  this  town  on  the  21st  of  June,  1776.  He  was  one 
of  the  chief  and  most  admirable  characters  of  New  England 
Methodist  history.  In  stature  he  was  below  the  ordinary 
height,  stoutly  framed,  with  a  full  round  face  healthfully  col- 
ored, and  expressive  of  the  perfect  benignity  and  amiability  of 
his  spirit.  In  advanced  life  his  undiminished  but  silvered  hair 
crowned  him  with  a  highly  venerable  aspect.  In  manners  he 
would  have  been  a  fitting  companion  for  St.  John.  He  was 
distinguished  by  excellent  pulpit  qualifications,  fertility  of 
thought,  warmth  of  feeling  without  extravagance,  peculiar 
richness  of  illustration,  and  a  manner  always  self-possessed 
and  marked  by  the  constitutional  amenity  of  his  temper. 
None  were  ever  wearied  under  his  discourses.  He  published 
a  volume  of  excellent  sermons  for  mariners,  and  many  poetical 
pieces  of  more  than  ordinary  merit. 

Another  well-known  name  occurs  in  the  list  of  eastern  ap- 
pointments this  year,  that  of  Daniel  Ostrander.  His  promi- 
nence, for  many  years,  in  the  New  York  Conference — where  he 
continued  until  our  day,  a  representative  of  the  earlier  times- 
has  identified  him  in  the  public  mind  with  that  body,  and  but 
few  of  the  present  generation  of  eastern  Methodists  know  any- 


312  niSTORY    OF    THE 

thing  of  his  intimate  connection  with  their  early  history. 
Daniel  Ostrander  was,  nevertheless,  one  of  the  founders  of 
Methodism  in  New  England.  He  commenced  his  ministry 
within  its  limits,  and  spent  the  first  thirteen  years  of  it  (save 
one)  in  sharing  the  trials  and  struggles  of  Lee,  Koberts,  Pick- 
ering, Mudge,  Taylor,  and  their  associates ;  laboring  mightily 
in  western  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  and  as 
far  east  as  Boston.  "  From  the  year  1793  to  the  year  1843," 
say  his  brethren  of  the  New  York  Conference,  "  a  full  term  of 
fifty  years,  so  remarkably  did  the  Lord  preserve  him,  that  only 
three  Sabbaths  in  all  that  time  was  he  disabled  from  pulpit 
service  by  sickness.  For  fourteen  years  he  was  on  circuits, 
eight  years  in  stations,  (New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  Albany,) 
and  twenty-eight  years  in  the  weighty  and  responsible  office 
of  presiding  elder.  His  high  standing  in  the  esteem  of  his 
brethren  in  Conference  appears  from  the  fact,  that  since  the 
establishment  of  the  delegated  General  Conference  in  1808, 
they  always  elected  him  a  member  of  that  highest  judicatory  in 
our  Church,  down  to  the  year  1840,  inclusive ;  and  never  has 
his  seat  in  an  Annual  Conference  been  vacant,  during  the  forty- 
eight  years  that  the  writer  of  this  article  has  known  him,  till 
called  to  his  reward.  The  same  is  thought  to  have  been  the 
case  from  the  time  of  his  admission  as  a  member  of  this  body." 
Zadok  Priest,  another  of  these  itinerants,  was  a  youthful 
martyr  to  the  extreme  labors  of  these  times  of  struggle  and 
victory.  In  1795  he  labored  on  Warren  Circuit,  where  he  was 
attacked  with  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs,  which  terminated  in 
consumption.  He  retired  from  his  work  to  die.  He  went  to 
his  home,  but  his  father,  who  was  opposed  to  the  Methodists, 
turned  him  away  from  the  house.  There  resided  at  that  time, 
and  for  many  subsequent  years,  at  Norton,  Mass.,  a  venerable 
Methodist,  known  as  "  Father  Newcomb,"  whose  home  was 
ever  open  as  an  asylum  for  the  itinerants.  Thither  Priest 
went  in  his  affliction — "  to  die  with  them,"  as  he  said  when 
the  door  was  opened  to  receive  him.  He  was  confined 
there  three  weeks,  and  then  passed  down  into  the  valley  and 
shadow  of  death,  expressing  "  a  strong  confidence  in  the  favor 
of  God,  and  no  doubt  of  his  salvation."     He  died  on  the  22d 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCII.  313 

of  June,  1796,  in  the  twenty-seventh  year  of  his  age,  and  was 
buried  on  the  estate  of  Newcomb.  He  was  generally  be- 
loved, and  a  Christian  brother  now  rests  by  his  side,  who 
esteemed  him  so  highly  in  life  as  to  request  that  he  might  sleep 
with  him  in  death.  The  event  occasioned  a  great  sensation 
among  his  fellow-laborers  and  the  infant  societies  in  New 
England.  His  obituary  may  be  seen  in  the  Minutes  for  1796 ; 
and  Lee,  who  was  his  presiding  elder  at  this  time,  also  hand- 
somely notices  him  in  his  History  of  Methodism. 

Many  other  noted  evangelists  appeared  now  for  the  first  time 
in  the  ranks  of  the  New  England  itinerancy,  such  as  Joshua 
Taylor,  Joshua  Hall,  Aaron  Hunt,  and  Hope  Hull.  Method- 
ism had  not  yet  reached  the  province  of  Maine.  It  was  assigned 
as  an  appointment  to  Lee  himself  in  the  year  1793.  It  then, 
and  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  afterward,  pertained 
to  Massachusetts,  and  its  settlements  were  sparse,  and  mostly 
on  the  seaboard  or  principal  rivers.  Most  of  the  interior 
regions  were  but  occasionally  favored  with  the  ordinances  of  re- 
ligion. Lee  longed  to  sound  the  trump  of  the  Gospel  through 
its  primeval  forests  and  along  its  great  rivers ;  and  though  he 
knew  no  one  there  to  welcome  him  on  his  arrival,  nor  any  one 
elsewhere  to  give  him  "  a  particular  account  of  the  place  and 
the  people,"  yet,  as  "it  was  commonly  understood  that  they 
were  in  want  of  preaching,"  he  took  his  horse  and  saddle-bags 
and  directed  his  course  toward  it,  not  knowing  what  should 
befall  him.  His  biographer  has  preserved  but  brief  notices  of 
this  first  excursion  thither ;  it  was,  however,  but  a  visit  of  ob 
servation.  "  He  continued,"  says  his  Memoir,  "  in  these  set 
tlements,  traveling  to  and  fro  and  preaching,  with  good  hopes 
that  his  labor  would  be  blessed  of  the  Lord,  until  the  latter 
part  of  October,  at  which  time  he  returned  to  Lynn.  In 
January,  1194,  he  repeated  his  visit  to  the  settlements  on  the 
Kennebec  and  Penobscot  Eivers,  and  enlarged  his  borders  by 
preaching  in  many  new  places.  His  difficulties  were  many, 
but  God  gave  him  strength  to  bear  all  with  becoming  patience 
and  resolution.  He  succeeded  in  forming  a  circuit  in  the 
province,  which,  by  the  way,  is  all  that  can  be  said  of  it,  for 
we  are  not  assured  that  there  was  a  single  Society  of  Method- 


314  HISTORY    OF    THE 

ists  within  its  whole  bounds."  There  was,  in  fact,  no  Society 
formed  within  its  limits,  or  within  the  entire  province,  until 
after  the  ensuing  Conference.  The  first  class  in  Maine  was 
organized  at  Monmouth  about  the  first  of  November,  1794. 
Lee  has  given  us,  in  his  History  of  the  Methodists,  a  brief 
sketch  of  this  second  tour.  "  I  traveled,"  he  says,  "  through  a 
greater  part  of  that  country  from  September  to  the  end  of  the 
year.  I  went  as  far  as  Castine,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Penobscot 
■River  ;  up  the  river  to  the  upper  settlements,  which  were  then 
just  below  the  Indian  settlement  called  Old  Town  ;  thence  I 
returned  by  the  way  of  the  Twenty-five  mile  Pond  to  Kenne- 
bec Kiver ;  thence  up  the  Sandy  Eiver,  and  back  to  Hallowell, 
and  thence  through  to  Portland."  By  tracing  his  route  on 
the  map  it  will  be  perceived  that  he  surveyed  quite  thoroughly 
most  of  what  was  then  the  occupied  portion  of  the  province, 
namely,  the  region*  of  the  coast  from  Portsmouth  to  Castine, 
and  the  interior,  between  the  Kennebec  and  Penobscot,  as  far 
up,  and  even  further,  than  what  has  since  become  the  s:te  of 
Bangor  on  the  latter,  and  Waterville  on  the  former.  "Al- 
though," he  continues,  "  I  was  a  perfect  stranger  to  the  people, 
and  had  to  make  my  own  appointments,  I  preached  almost 
every  day,  and  to  crowded  assemblies.  After  viewing  the 
country,  I  thought  the  most  proper  place  to  form  a  circuit  was 
on  the  Kennebec  Piver.  It  was  accordingly  formed,  aid  called 
Keadfield.  This  was  the  name  of  the  first  circuit  formed  by 
the  Methodists  in  that  part  of  the  country.  It  was  sbout  two 
hundred  miles  from  any  other  which  we  had  in  New  England. 
It  extended  from  Hallowell  to  Sandy  River." 

The  ecclesiastical  year  closed  in  the  latter  part  o.'  July.  It 
had  been  a  time  of  adversity  and  declension  to  me  general 
Church ;  severe  trials  had  also  afflicted  the  small  itinerant 
band  in  New  England.  They  were  hedged  in  or  every  side 
by  a  decayed  Church,  whose  chief  remaining  vigor  consisted 
in  its  pertinacity  for  its  antiquated  polemics,  and  its  intolerance 
toward  dissenting  sects.  They  had  reached,  too,  a  degree  of 
advancement  where,  more  than  at  any  earlier  period  of  their 
history,  the  sectarian  jealousy  of  the  established  Churches  be- 
came excited  and  alarmed ;  but  they  surmounted  all  impedi- 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  315 

ments  and  made  good  progress.  The  circuits  were  extended 
on  all  sides;  eighteen  were  reported  at  the  next  Conference, 
a  gain  of  more  than  one  fourth  on  the  number  of  the  preceding 
year.  Lee  having  surveyed  extensively  the  wilderness  of 
Maine,  was  now  on  his  way  to  the  Conference  to  solicit  a  laborer 
for  that  vast  field,  carrying  with  him  a  schedule  of  appoint- 
ments, which,  after  personal  inspection,  he  had  definitively  ar- 
ranged into  a  circuit  that  extended  along  the  Kennebec,  quite 
into  the  interior  of  the  province.  New  Hampshire  and  Ver- 
mont were  also  "  stretching  out  their  hands,"  and  the  itinerant 
corps  resolved  to  extend  its  lines  into  those  remoter  regions  at 
the  approaching  Conference.  Thus  the  three  remaining  sec- 
tions of  New  England  were  about  to  be  permanently  occupied 
by  them.  "While  the  aggregate  membership  of  the  Church 
had  decreased  during  the  year  more  than  2,000,  chiefly  by  the 
O'Kelly  schism,  the  local  membership  of  New  England  had 
advanced  from  1,739  to  2,039,  a  small  addition  when  compared 
with  the  progress  of  later  years,  but  large  for  those  days  of 
trial  and  struggle. 

The  Conference  commenced  in  Lynn,  July  25,  1794.  An- 
other session  had  been  appointed  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
preachers  in  the  western  portion  of  New  England,  who,  there- 
fore, were  not  present  at  the  one  in  Lynn.  We  have  scarcely 
any  information  respecting  the  latter.  Asbury  has  recorded 
but  about  half  a  dozen  lines  concerning  it,  with  no  intimation 
whatever  of  its  business,  except  that  difficulties  had  arisen 
which  grieved  him  deeply,  and  rendered  its  termination  grate- 
ful to  his  wounded  feelings.  He  preached  before  the  Confer- 
ence and  the  Society  of  Lynn  twice  on  the  Sabbath,  and 
departed  for  the  Wilbraham  session  the  next  morning,  passing, 
with  his  usual  rapidity,  a  distance  of  forty  miles  the  same  day. 

On  the  first  of  August  he  left  his  comfortable  retreat  at 
General  Lippett's,  and,  after  traveling  and  preaching  daily, 
reached  Tolland,  Conn.,  by  the  tenth.  He  was  now  in  the  re- 
gion of  the  "Association,"  which  had  arrayed  itself  against 
Methodism,  under  the  leadership  of  "Williams  and  Huntington. 
"  Ah !  "  he  exclaims,  "  here  are  the  iron  walls  of  prejudice ;  but 
God  can  break  them  down.     Out  of  fifteen  United  States,  thir- 


316 


niSTORY    OF    THE 


teen  are  free ;  but  two  are  fettered  with  ecclesiastical  chains, 
taxed  to  support  ministers  who  are  chosen  by  a  small  commit- 
tee, and  settled  for  life.  My  simple  prophecy  is,  that  this 
must  come  to  an  end  with  the  present  century."  He  was  too 
sanguine;  the  ecclesiastical  oppressions  of  Connecticut  were 
not  abolished  till  1816,  and  his  own  sons  in  the  ministry  had 
no  unimportant  agency  in  their  removal. 

By  Sunday,  August  17th,  he  was  in  Wilbraham,  Mass., 
where  he  found  a  Methodist  chapel,  "  forty  by  thirty-four  feet, 
neatly  designed."  He  was  sick  and  weary  throughout  this 
trip,  but,  being  accompanied  by  Roberts,  they  were  able 
jointly  to  hold  meetings  continually.  They  made  preaching 
excursions  during  a  fortnight,  and  on  September  2d  returned 
to  Wilbraham,  lodged  with  Abel  Bliss,  a  name  still  familiar  to 
Massachusetts  Methodists,  and  on  Thursday,  the  4th,  opened 
the  "Wilbraham  Conference."  Great  men  were  there:  As- 
bury,  wayworn,  but  "mighty  through  God;"  Lee:  eloquent, 
tireless,  and  ambitious,  like  Coke,  for  "the  wings  of  an  eagle, 
and  the  voice  of  a  trumpet,  that  he  might  proclaim  the 
Gospel  through  the  East  and  the  West,  the  North  and  the 
South ; "  Eoberts,  as  robust  and  noble  in  spirit  as  in  person ; 
Wilson  Lee,  "a  flame  of  fire;"  Ostrander,  firm  and  unwaver- 
ing as  a  pillar  of  brass ;  Pickering,  clear  and  pure  as  a  beam 
of  the  morning ;  young  Mudge,  the  beloved  firstborn  of  the 
New  England  itinerancy ;  the  two  Joshuas  of  Maine,  Taylor 
and  Hall,  who,  like  their  ancient  namesake,  led  the  triumphs 
of  Israel  in  the  land  of  the  East ;  and  others  whose  record  is  on 
high.  The  proceedings  were  what  might  have  been  expected 
from  such  evangelists :  dispatch  of  business,  incessant  public 
devotions,  and  daily  preaching.  Sunday  was  a  high  festival. 
The  services  commenced  at  eight  o'clock  A.  M.  The  first 
hour  was  spent  in  prevailing  prayer,  and  in  singing  the  raptur- 
ous melodies  of  the  poet  of  Methodism,  the  doggerels  of  later 
days  having  not  yet  come  into  vogue.  Asbury  then  mounted 
the  pulpit,  and  addressed  the  throng,  appealing  to  the  ministry 
like  a  veteran  general  to  his  hosts  on  the  eve  of  battle,  calling 
on  them  to  "  put  on  the  whole  armor  of  God,"  and  "  endure 
hardness  as  good  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ."     Conflicts  were  be- 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  317 

fore  them,  but  their  weapons  were  "mighty  through  God," 
and  their  brethren  were  moving  on  to  victory  through  the 
land.  Many  might  fall,  but  it  would  be  amid  the  slain  of  the 
Lord,  and  with  the  shout  of  triumph. 

After  the  stirring  discourse,  he  descended  to  the  altar  and 
consecrated  four  young  men  to  the  ministry  of  the  itinerancy, 
three  as  elders,  one  as  deacon.  Preachers  and  people  then 
crowded  around  the  altar,  and  with  solemnity  and  tears  par- 
took of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Lee's  ardent  spirit  was  moved 
within  him,  for  to  him  it  was  a  "  solemn  time,"  "  quickening  " 
and  "  refreshing."  The  assembly  was  dismissed,  but  the  people 
withdrew  only  for  a  few  minutes.  They  again  thronged  the 
house,  and  were  addressed  in  a  series  of  exhortations  by  Lee, 
Thompson,  and  Ketchum.  The  exhortation  of  Lee  was  long 
spoken  of  as  an  example  of  overwhelming  eloquence.  "  The 
crowd,"  says  one  who  heard  it,  "  moved  under  it  like  the  forest 
under  a  tempest."  "  It  was  a  time  of  God's  power,"  says  Lee. 
Stout  hearts  broke  under  the  word,  the  fountain  of  tears  was 
opened,  and  there  was  weeping  in  all  parts  of  the  house ;  the 
emotion  at  last  became  insupportable,  and  the  overwhelmed 
assembly  gave  vent  to  their  uncontrollable  feelings  in  loud  ex- 
clamations. The  services  finally  closed  after  continuing  seven 
hours  and  a  half.  "  It  was,"  exclaims  Lee,  "  a  blessed  day  to 
my  soul."  Asbury  hastened  away  to  attend  the  New  York 
Conference.  At  one  place  on  his  route  calls  came  to  him  to 
send  preachers  into  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  and  at 
another  he  met  Dunham,  from  Canada,  beseeching  him  to 
send  additional  laborers  into  that  opening  region.  Thus  the 
field  was  enlarging  in  all  directions,  and  whitening  unto  the 
harvest. 

Whe  new  ecclesiastical  year  began  with  two  districts  and 
part  of  a  third,  eighteen  circuits  and  stations,  and  thirty 
preachers ;  four  circuits  and  ^.ve  preachers  more  than  in  the 
preceding  year.  The  names  of  New  Hampshire  and  Yermont 
appear,  for  the  first  time,  in  the  Minutes. 

Of  the  itinerants  who  now,  for  the  first  time,  appear  in  New 
England,  twelve  in  number,  more  than  half  were  recruits  from 
Maryland  or  Yirginia.    Among  them  were  conspicuous  men, 


318  HISTORY   OF  THE 

like  Christopher  Spry,  long  known  in  the  "  Old  Baltimore 
Conference ; "  George  Cannon,  who  founded  Methodism  at 
Provincetown  and  Nantucket ;  John  Chalmers,  who  originated 
the  first  Methodist  chapel  of  Rhode  Island,  (on  Warren  Cir- 
cuit,) and  fell  in  his  work,  as  late  as  1833,  in  Maryland,  "  full 
of  faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost,"  say  his  brethren ;  David  Ab- 
bott, son  of  the  New  Jersey  "  Boanerges,"  and  Wilson  Lee. 
Jesse  Lee's  appointment  for  the  ensuing  year  was  to  the  office 
of  presiding  elder;  his  district  comprehended,  nominally, 
Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire,  and  Maine,  but  virtually,  the 
whole  Methodist  interests  in  New  England.  A  year  of  extraor- 
dinary travels  and  labors  was  before  him ;  but,  sustained  by 
a  zeal  as  steady  as  it  was  ardent,  he  went  forth  upon  it  like  a 
giant  to  run  a  race.  He  passed  in  a  rapid  flight  through  Con- 
necticut, Rhode  Island,  Eastern  Massachusetts,  and  far  into 
the  interior  of  Maine,  amid  snow-drifts  and  wintry  storms ; 
back  again  through  Massachusetts,  Bhode  Island,  and  the 
islands  of  Nantucket  and  Martha's  Yineyard,  and  again 
through  Massachusetts  and  Maine  into  the  British  provinces, 
and  back  yet  again  to  the  interior  of  Connecticut.  Philip 
Wager  had  been  sent  this  year  to  Maine — the  first  Methodist 
preacher  stationed  in  that  section  of  New  England.  The  first 
Methodist  Class  formed  in  that  province  comprised  fifteen 
members.  It  was  organized  "  about  the  first  of  November, 
1794."  The  first  lay  Methodist  in  Maine  was  Daniel  Smith, 
afterward  a  local  preacher.  He  died  in  peace,  October  10, 
1846.  Lee  left  the  new  society,  praying  that  it  might  be  as  the 
"  little  cloud,  which  at  first  was  like  a  man's  hand,  but  soon 
covered  the  heavens."  His  prayer  has  prevailed,  and  in  our 
day  his  denomination  has  become  the  strongest,  numerically, 
in  the  State.  • 

On  Saturday,  15th  of  November,  he  reached  Readfield, 
whither  he  was  attracted  by  the  recollections  of  his  former  cor- 
dial reception.  Good  news  awaited  him  in  that  remote  region  ; 
he  found  there  the  second  Methodist  society  of  Maine,  recently 
formed — a  people  hungering  for  the  word  of  life,  and  hanging 
on  his  ministrations  with  sobs  and  ejaculations — and  the  shell 
of  the  first  Methodist  chapel  of  Maine  already  reared.    The 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  319 

class  consisted  of  seventeen  members.  "  Surely,"  he  exclaims, 
"  the  Lord  is  about  to  do  great  things  for  the  people.  Even 
so ;  amen,  and  amen."  Early  on  Wednesday,  26th,  he  was 
again  pressing  forward,  on  his  way  to  Sandy  Kiver,  over  a 
lonely  road,  and  through  intense  cold.  December,  with  its 
Borean  storms,  had  come  upon  the  evangelist  in  what  was  then 
the  heart  of  the  wilderness  province,  but  he  still  went  forward. 
On  a  part  of  the  way  there  were  no  traces  of  a  path ;  his  guide 
had  to  follow  the  "  chops  "  on  the  trees  ;  the  snow  was  nearly 
a  foot  deep,  and  the  traveling  most  difficult.  lie  spent  about 
two  months  in  Maine,  during  which,  undaunted  by  the  driving 
storms  of  the  north,  he  had  penetrated  on  horseback  to  the 
frontier  settlements,  preaching  the  word,  and  encouraging  the 
incipient  societies,  which  could  yet  claim  but  one  sanctuary  in 
the  province,  and  that  scarcely  more  substantial  than  a  barn, 
but  have  since  multiplied  themselves  throughout  the  State,  and 
studded  its  surface  with  temples.  After  laboring  two  or  three 
weeks  in  Lynn  and  its  vicinity,  he  sallied  forth  again,  though 
amid  the  blasts  of  midwinter,  on  an  excursion  to  Ehode  Island, 
and  the  southeastern  parts  of  Massachusetts.  He  returned  for 
temporary  shelter  to  his  head-quarters  in  Lynn ;  but  though  it 
was  now  the  most  inclement  period  of  the  year,  and  especially 
unfavorable  for  travel,  he  longed  to  plunge  again  into  the 
wilderness  of  Maine,  and  to  bear  the  cross  onward  far  be- 
yond his  former  tours.  He  was  soon  away,  and  penetrated 
through  the  province  to  the  Bay  of  Fundy.  By  the  21st  of 
June  he  was  back  at  Keadfield  dedicating  the  first'  Methodist 
chapel  of  Maine.  Such  is  but  a  glance  at  the  labors  of  this 
wonderful  man  during  the  ten  months  which  had  elapsed  since 
his  departure  from  the  Wilbraham  Conference.  Similar  jour- 
neys and  labors,  performed  with  our  present  conveniences  for 
travel,  would  be  considered  extraordinary;  how  much  more 
so  were  they  at  that  day!  How  soon  would  the  earth  be 
evangelized  were  the  whole  Christian  ministry  of  like 
spirit ! 

While  Lee  was  approaching  the  seat  of  the  next  Conference 
from  the  north,  Asbury  was  wending  his  course  toward  it  from 
the  south,  where,  as  we  have  seen,  he  had  performed  unparal- 


320  HISTORY   OF    THE 

leled  journeys  and  labors.  The  year  had  been  a  calamitous  one 
for  the  Church  generally ;  the  Minutes  reported  an  aggregate 
decrease  of  six  thousand  three  hundred  and  seventeen  members. 
"  Such  a  loss,"  says  Lee,  "  we  had  never  known  since  we  were 
a  people."  But  while  the  desolating  measures  of  O'Kelly 
were  blighting  the  former  rich  growth  of  the  South,  the  New 
England  field  was  extending  on  every  hand,  and  yielding  an 
abundant  increase.  Its  returns  of  members  amounted  to  two 
thousand  five  hundred  and  seventy-five,  an  advance  on  the 
preceding  year  of  five  hundred  and  thirty-six,  or  more  than  one 
fourth.  There  was  apparently  a  gain  of  but  one  circuit,  or 
station,  eighteen  being  reported  the  preceding  year,  and  nine- 
teen the  present.  One,  however,  of  the  former  (Vermont) 
was  merely  nominal ;  Joshua  Hall,  who  was  appointed  to  it, 
being  detained  in  Massachusetts.  The  gain  was  at  least  five ; 
actually  larger  than  in  any  former  year.  The  remodeling  of 
several  western  circuits  diminished  their  number,  but  their  real 
extent  and  importance  were  proportionably  augmented  by  the 
change.  Pomfret,  in  Connecticut ;  Provincetown  and  Marble- 
head,  in  Massachusetts ;  Portland  and  Penobscot,  in  Maine, 
were  the  new  names  reported  among  the  appointments  for 
the  ensuing  year.  The  gains  in  the  membership  were  chiefly 
in  Maine.  A  solitary  preacher  had  been  appointed,  as  we 
have  seen,  to  that  vast  field,  without  a  Society.  Hundreds 
were  awakened  and  converted  under  Lee's  faithful  labors  and 
those  of  his  coadjutor.  Several  societies  were  organized ;  the 
first  Metho'dist  chapel  erected ;  the  first  returns  of  members 
made.  Readfield  Circuit  reported  232 ;  Portland,  136 ;  and 
Passamaquoddy,  (on  the  eastern  boundary,)  50 ;  an  aggre- 
gate of  318.  Methodism  had  unfurled  its  banners  in  Maine, 
with  the  hope  never  to  strike  them  till  the  heavens  are  no 
more. 

The  Conference  commenced  its  session  at  New  London, 
Conn.,  on  "Wednesday,  the  15th  of  July,  1795.  Nineteen 
preachers  were  present.  A  small  number  of  Methodists  had 
been  formed  into  a  Society  in  the  city  about  two  years,  but 
they  were  yet  without  a  chapel  in  which  to  accommodate  the 
Conference.     It  met  in  the  house  of  Daniel  Burrows.   Though. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  321 

assembled  without  ostentation,  and  without  a  temple,  sublime 
visions  of  the  future  rose  before  the  contemplation  of  the  men 
who  composed  the  unnoticed  body.  Asbury  looked  forth  from 
the  private  room  in  which  they  met;  with  the  hope  that  their 
deliberations  would  be  "  for  the  good  of  thousands."  Some 
of  them  were  yet  to  see  their  little  company  grow  into  a  host 
nearly  a  thousand  strong,  leading  an  evangelical  army  of  nearly 
a  hundred  thousand  souls.  Asbury,  Lee,  Eoberts,  Pickering, 
Mudge,  Taylor,  Snethen,  Smith,  Ostrander,  and  M'Combs 
were  among  the  rare  men  who  composed  the  unpretending 
synod.  The  session  continued  until  Saturday.  The  itinerants 
reviewed  the  successes  and  trials  of  the  past  year,  planned  new 
and  more  extended  projects  of  labor  for  the  future,  united  in 
frequent  prayer  that  the  word  might  run  and  be  glorified,  and 
preached  it  daily  to  each  other  and  the  gathered  multitude  in 
the  court-house.  Evan  Kogers,  who  had  been  educated  a 
Quaker,  and  combined  much  of  the  gravity  of  his  first  with 
the  warm  energy  of  his  new  faith,  addressed  the  preachers  par- 
ticularly, and,  it  is  said,  very  pertinently,  on  defects  in  their 
pulpit  delivery,  which  were  not  uncommon  at  that  date.  His 
text,  at  least,  was  significant.  It  was  1  Cor.  xiv,  19.  Chal- 
mers brought  them  glad  tidings  from  Rhode  Island,  and  re- 
ported the  erection  of  the  first  Methodist  chapel  of  that  State. 
Ostrander  brought  good  news  from  the  Connecticut  River; 
the  cause  was  advancing  slowly,  but  surely,  along  its  banks, 
prejudice  was  yielding,  the  hostility  of  the  established  Churches 
had  been  defeated  in  several  instances,  and  though  the  cry  was 
that  they  were  "  turning  the  world  upside  down,"  yet  numerous 
places  in  all  directions  were  uttering  to  them  the  "  Macedonian 
cry  "  to  come  over  and  help  them,  and  hundreds  were  waking 
from  their  spiritual  slumbers  to  a  devouter  life.  Hill  was 
there  from  New  Hampshire,  to  report  that  innumerable  doors, 
were  opening  in  that  sparsely  settled  state  for  the  new  evangel- 
ists ;  but  the  laborers  were  few,  and  none  could  yet  be  spared. 
Lee,  wayworn  with  his  great  travels,  cheered  them  with  sur- 
prising news  from  Maine.  Encouraged  by  their  mutual 
communications  they  sung  a  hymn,  and  bowed  together  in  a 
concluding  prayer,  at  noon,  on  Saturday.     They  tarried,  how- 

21 


322  HISTORY    OF    THE 

ever,  through  the  Sabbath,  the  great  day  of  the  feast.  Early  on 
Monday  morning,  before  the  community  were  fairly  astir,  As- 
bury  was  away  on  his  horse,  and  by  eight  o'clock  A.  M.  was 
sounding  the  alarm  in  Norwich,  while  the  preachers  were  urging 
their  steeds  in  all  directions  to  the  conflicts  of  another  year. 

The  programme  of  labor  for  the  year,  from  July,  1795,  to 
September,  1796,  included  one  district  and  part  of  a  second, 
nineteen  circuits,  and  thirty  preachers.  Add  to  these  about 
two  thousand  six  hundred  members,  with  some  half  dozen 
chapels,  and  we  have  a  general  outline  of  Methodism  in  New 
England  at  this  date.  Nearly  one  third  of  the  preachers  on 
the  list  of  appointments  this  year  were  new  laborers  in  New 
England.  They  were  nine;  and,  of  all  this  number,  two 
withdrew  from  the  ministry,  and  the  remainder  sooner  or 
later  located  without  again  resuming  effective  service,  so  far  as 
I  can  ascertain.  It  was  a  sad  necessity  of  the  times  which 
compelled  so  many,  at  the  maturest  period  of  their  energies, 
to  seek  bread  for  their  families  in  secular  pursuits.  Lee  re- 
turned to  Boston,  that  he  might  assist  in  the  ceremonies  with 
which  the  founding  of  the  Methodist  chapel  on  Hanover 
Avenue  was  solemnized.  Five  years  had  he  been  laying  siege 
to  the  almost  inaccessible  community  of  the  metropolis,  return- 
ing to  the  attack,  ever  and  anon,  from  his  distant  excursions. 
His  perseverance  had  conquered  at  last,  and  he  now  erected  a 
battery  in  its  midst.  On  the  28th  of  August  he  consecrated 
the  corner-stone  of  the  new  temple,  amid  the  rejoicings  and 
thanksgivings  of  the  humble  worshipers,  who  had  struggled  to 
the  utmost  for  its  erection.  It  was  located  on  a  narrow  lane 
in  the  poorest  suburb  of  the  city,  but  was  for  years  a  moral 
pharos,  throwing  an  evangelical  radiance  over  the  population 
around  it.  Many  of  the  greatest  men  of  the  Methodist  minis- 
try proclaimed  the  truth  from  its  rude  pulpit,  and  its  humble 
communion  has  been  adorned  by  some  of  the  best  samples  of 
Christian  character  which  have  distinguished  the  denomination. 
Lee  was  three  weeks  in  the  city ;  during  this  time  he  took  his 
stand,  three  successive  Sabbaths,  on  the  Common,  where 
thousands  heard  the  word  of  life  from  his  lips,  who  would  have 
gone  nowhere  else  to  hear  it. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  323 

Leaving  the  work  in  Boston  in  charge  of  another,  he  went 
forth  again  on  his  travels,  passing  with  rapid  transitions  in 
every  direction.  The  unfortunate  loss  of  his  manuscripts  has 
deprived  us  of  the  details  of  these  tours.  We  know,  however, 
that  he  passed  over  the  whole  length  of  Cape  Cod,  made  two 
tours  in  Maine,  and  seemed  almost  omnipresent  in  his  older 
eastern  fields.  In  September,  1796,  Asbury  again  entered 
New  England.  On  reaching  Old  Haddam  he  wrote,  "My 
body  is  full  of  infirmities,  and  my  soul  of  the  love  of  God.  I 
think  that  God  is  returning  to  this  place,  and  that  great  days 
will  yet  come  on  in  New  England."  He  read  aright  the  signs 
of  the  times.  He  passed  on  to  Thompson,  Conn.,  where  the 
Conference  assembled  on  the  19th.  The  aggregate  of  the 
returns  of  Church  members  was  now  2,519,  showing  a  decrease 
of  56.  On  the  other  hand  there  had  been  a  gain  of  105  in 
Maine  and  New  Hampshire,  and  numerous  conversions  in 
Vermont,  which  were  not  reported.  The  real  loss  was,  there- 
fore, probably  smaller  than  it  appears  to  be  in  the  census. 
But  if  there  was  a  slight  numerical  declension,  there  was  an 
actual  growth  of  the  cause  in  the  invigoration  of  its  organized 
plans,  and  the  extension  of  its  scope  of  operations.  Its  laborers 
had  formed  two  new  circuits  in  Maine.  They  had  penetrated 
into  New  Hampshire  and'Yermont,  and  had  projected  a  long 
circuit  in  each.  Lee  had  formerly  preached  the  doctrines  of 
Methodism  in  all  the  New  England  States,  but  before  the 
present  year  its  standards  had  been  planted  permanently  only 
in  Connecticut,  Khode  Island,  Massachusetts,  and  Maine ;  now 
they  were  reared,  to  be  furled  no  more,  in  all  the  Eastern 
States.  A  network  of  systematic  labors  extended  into  them 
all,  from  Norwalk  in  Connecticut  to  the  Penobscot  in  Maine, 
and  from  Provincetown  in  Massachusetts  to  Montpelier  in 
Yermont ;  and  hereafter  the  progress  of  the  new  communion 
is  to  have  accelerated  rapidity,  in  every  direction. 

At  the  Thompson,  as  at  the  New  London  Conference  the 
year  before,  the  itinerants  had  not  the  convenience  of  a  chapel 
for  their  deliberations,  but  were  entertained  with  hearty 
hospitality  by  the  young  Church,  and  assembled  in  an  un- 
finished chamber  in  the  house  of  Captain  Jonathan  Nichols. 


324  HISTORY  OF   THE 

In  this  humble  apartment  did  these  men  of  .Teat  souls  devise 
plans  which  comprehended  all  these  Eastern  States,  contem- 
plated all  coming  time.  About  thirty  were  present,  "  some 
of  whom,"  remarks  Asbury,  "  were  from  the  province  of 
Maine,  three  hundred  miles  distant,  who  gave  us  a  pleasing 
relation  of  the  work  of  God  in  those  parts."  He  preached  to 
them  in  the  chamber,  enjoining  upon  them  their  ministerial 
duties  to  the  people,  from  Acts  xxvi,  18,  19 :  "  To  open  their 
eyes,  and  to  turn  them  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God ; 
that  they  may  receive  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  inheritance 
among  them  which  are  justified."  The  sermon  was  heard 
with  deep  emotion  by  a  crowded  assembly,  among  whom  sat 
the  parish  pastor,  rapt  in  the  interest  of  the  occasion.  To  a 
late  day  its  effect  was  often  mentioned  among  the  reminis- 
cences of  the  olden  times  in  the  conversations  of  veteran 
Methodists.  "  We  talked  together,  and  rejoiced  in  the  Lord," 
says  Asbury.  Enoch  Mudge  and  Joshua  Hall  brought  them 
refreshing  reports  from  Maine.  The  former  had  witnessed  the 
rapid  spread  of  the  Gospel  along  the  banks  of  the  Kennebec, 
where  an  additional  circuit  had  been  formed ;  the  latter  had 
been  proclaiming  it  on  both  sides  of  the  Penobscot,  and  had 
seen  "  the  arm  of  the  Lord  made  bare."  They  could  both  tell 
of  hard  fare,  terrible  winters,  long  journeys  amid  driving 
storms,  and  comfortless  lodgings  in  log-cabins,  through  which 
the  snow  beat  upon  their  beds ;  but  also  of  divine  consolations 
which  had  sanctified  every  suffering,  and  victories  of  the  truth 
multiplying  through  the  land.  Lemuel  Smith  relieved  the 
reports  of  declension  from  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  by 
news  of  an  extensive  revival  on  Granville  Circuit,  where  nearly 
one  hundred  souls  had  been  gathered  into  the  Church  since 
their  last  session.  Lawrence  M' Coombs  reported  severe  com- 
bats and  serious  losses  on  New  London  Circuit,  but  was  un- 
daunted in  his  characteristic  courage  and  sanguine  hopes. .  Cy- 
rus Stebbins  brought  the  mournful  intelligence  that  one  of  their 
number  had  fallen  in  the  field  since  they  last  met,  the  youth- 
ful and  devoted  Zadok  Priest.  Asbury  ordained  seven  deacons 
and  five  elders.  Three  itinerants,  compelled,  probably,  by  sick- 
ness or  want,  took  leave  of  their  companions  and  retired  to 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  325 

the  local  ranks ;  but  others,  mightier  men — Timothy  Merritt, 
John  Broadhead,  Elijah  Woolsey,  etc. — stepped  into  their 
places,  and  the  New  England  Methodist  ministry  presented  a 
more  imposing  aspect  of  strength  than  had  yet  distinguished 
it.  A  man  subsequently  noted  throughout  the  nation,  of- 
fered himself  for  admission  among  them,  the  eccentric  Lo- 
renzo Dow ;  but  the  discerning  eye  of  Asbury  perceived  the 
peculiarity  of  his  character,  and  his  application  was  declined. 
He  lingered  about  the  place  during  the  session,  weeping  sincere 
tears.  "  I  took  no  food,"  he  says,  "  for  thirty-six  hours  after- 
ward." On  "Wednesday  the  little  band  again  dispersed. 
Twenty-one  circuits,  one  district,  and  a  large  portion  of  a 
second,  together  with  thirty-one  itinerant  laborers  and  2,519 
members,  constituted  the  force  of  New  England  Methodism  for 
the  year  1796-7. 


326  HISTORY   OF    THE 


,     CHAPTER  XXII. 

METHODISM    IN  THE    WEST  — 1792-1796.       ' 

I  HAVE  recorded  with  some  detail  the  early  trans- Alleghany 
movements  of  Methodism  from  the  labors  of  the  local  preacher, 
Robert  Wooster,  in  the  Redstone  country,  in  1781,  down  to 
the  General  Conference  of  1792.  We  have  witnessed  the  out- 
spread of  the  Church  in  the  then  frontier  regions  now  com- 
prised in  the  Erie,  Pittsburgh,  and  Western  Virginia  Confer- 
ences ;  the  designation  of  Lambert  to  the  Holston  country,  in 
1783 ;  the  crossing  of  the  Alleghanies,  the  same  year,  by  Poy- 
thress ;  the  first  Western  Conference,  held  among  the  Holston 
mountains,  in  1788  ;  the  arrival  in  Kentucky  of  its  first  itiner- 
ants, Haw  and  Ogden,  in  1786;  Asbury's  adventurous  expe- 
ditions over  the  mountains ;  the  first  Kentucky  Conference  in 
1790 ;  and  the  perils  and  labors  of  the  early  evangelists,  Poy- 
thress,  Cooper,  Breese,  Haw,  Ogden,  Moriarty,  Wilson  Lee, 
Fidler,  Phoebus,  Chieuvrant,  Matthews,  Lurton,  Willis,  Ware, 
Tunnell,  Maston,  Bruce,  M'Gee,  Burke,  Whitaker,  Moore,  Will- 
iamson, M'Henry,  Tucker,  Birchett,  Massie,  Daniel  Asbury, 
and  others :  names  which  ehould  never  be  forgotten  in  the 
West ;  for  these  men  laid  the  foundations  not  merely  of  a  sect, 
but  of  a  moral  empire,  in  that  most  magnificent  domain  of  the 
New  World. 

Asbury  passed  almost  yearly  into  this  great  field  during  the 
present  period,  convoyed  often  by  armed  friends,  and  enduring 
frightful  sufferings  and  perils.  We  have  seen  that  John  Cooper 
and  Samuel  Breese  were  the  first  regular  preachers  sent  to  the 
Redstone  country,  whither  they  went  in  1784,  following  in  the 
tracks  of  Robert  Wooster.  John  Cooper  was  the  humble  but 
memorable  evangelist  whose  sufferings  we  have  noticed  as  early 
as  1775,  when  he  was  the  colleague  of  Philip  Gatch,  on  Kent 
Circuit,  Maryland — a  man  "  who,"  Gatch  says,  "  had  suffered 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  327 

much  persecution,"  whose  father,  detecting  him  on  his  knees, 
at  prayer,  threw  a  shovel  of  hot  coals  upon  him,  and  expelled 
him  from  his  house.  He  took  up  his  cross,  joined  the  itinerant 
host,  and  here  we  find  him,  at  last,  the  first  appointed  standard- 
bearer  of  the  Church  beyond  the  Pennsylvania  Alleghanies, 
the  first  regularly  appointed  one  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
if  the  doubtful  designation  of  Lambert  to  the  Holston  country 
the  preceding  year  did  not  take  effect,  as  I  deem  very  prob- 
able. He  labored  in  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia, 
New  Jersey,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Western  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  died  in  1789.  Henry  Willis  was  the  first  preacher 
stationed  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  was  probably  the 
first  who  had  an  effective  appointment  in  the  Holston  mount- 
ains. Sinking  under  pulmonary  consumption,  he  nevertheless 
persisted  in  his  travels  through  years  of  suffering,  and  was  one 
of  the  most  dominant  spirits  of  the  times,  energizing  by  his  ir- 
repressible ardor  the  work  of  the  Church  throughout  two  thirds 
of  its  territory.  He  labored  mightily  for  the  West,  as  if  con- 
scious of  its  prospective  importance  in  the  State  and  the 
Church.  Quinn,  who  knew  him  in  the  Bedstone  country, 
describes  him  as  about  "  six  feet  in  stature,"  "  slender,"  a 
"good  English  scholar,"  "well  read,"  "an  eloquent  man, 
mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  and  a  most  profound  and  powerful 
reasoner."  Peter  Moriarty,  a  laborer  in  the  Southern,  North- 
ern, and  Eastern  States,  a  man  of  great  power,  also  shared  in 
the  pioneer  evangelization  of  the  West,  entering  the  Redstone 
country  as  early  as  1785,  with  John  Fidler  and  Wilson  Lee, 
the  latter  of  whom  has  also  appeared  repeatedly  before  us  in 
most  of  the  field.  They  were  then  the  only  itinerants  on  that 
side  of  the  Alleghanies,  except  Henry  Willis  and  the  two 
preachers  on  his  solitary  Holston  Circuit.  We  have  seen  John 
Tunnell  leading,  for  years,  a  pioneer  band  of  preachers  among 
the  Holston  mountains,  and  buried,  at  last,  by  Asbury,  among 
the  Alleghany  heights,  a  martyr  to  his  work.  We  have  also 
traced  Poythress  to  the  great  western  arena,  where  he  became 
one  of  its  most  conspicuous  champions,  and  broke  down, 
physically  and  mentally,  under  superabundant  labors.  The 
itinerants  in  the  Redstone  country  stood  upon  the  frontier 


328  HISTORY    OF    TIIE 

confronting  the  immense  wilderness  known  as  the  Northwest- 
em  Territory.     The  scattered  settlers  had  been  slowly  creeping 
across  the  mountains  on  the  Braddock  Military  Eoad.     Fort 
Pitt  (Fort  du  Quesne)  stood  not  far  off,  a  memorial  of  French 
military  adventure.     A  few  huts  nestled  under  its  shelter ;  but 
Pittsburgh  was  not  to  be  incorporated  as  a  borough  till  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  after  the  arrival  of  Wooster.     The  itinerants 
formed  a  circuit  called  Ohio,  but  it  extended  along  the  eastern 
bank  of  the  river.     The  great  wilderness  gave  no  certain  signs 
yet  of  the  magnificent  States  which  were  soon  to  rise  on  its  sur- 
face :  Ohio,  Michigan,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  others,  stretching 
to  the  Mississippi,  and  overleaping  it  to  the  Kocky  Mountains. 
The  evangelists  looked  across  the  Ohio  with  vague  though  sub- 
lime anticipations  of  the  moral  empire  they  were  about  to 
found  in  the  boundless  wilds.     The  first  permanent  settlement 
in  Ohio,  Marietta,  was  not  made  till  1788,  seven  years  after 
Wooster  began  to  preach. in  the  Eedstone  region,  and  four 
after  Cooper  and  Breese  began  their  regular  labors  on  the 
hither  side  of  the  Ohio  Eiver.     More  than  twenty  years  were 
yet  to  pass,  after  Wooster's  arrival,  before  Ohio  was  to  become 
a  State,  thirty-five  years  before  Indiana,  and  thirty-seven  be- 
fore Illinois. 

The  itinerants  in  the  more  southern  trans- Alleghany  field, 
the  "  Holston  Country,"  were  in  even  a  more  desolate  region. 
"Straggling  settlements"  had  been  slowly  extending,  from 
the  locality  of  Pittsburgh,  up  the  Monongahela  and  its 
branches  to  the  Greenbrier  and  the  Neuse  Kivers,  where 
we  have  seen  Asbury  in  some  of  his  most  romantic  adven- 
tures. Thence  they  had  reached  to  the  upper  valley  of  the 
Holston,  "where  the  military  path  of  Virginia  led  to  the 
country  of  the  Cherokees."  Only  seventeen  years  before  the 
Methodist  preachers  penetrated  to  this  valley,  James  Smith, 
accompanied  by  three  fellow-adventurers,  passed  through 
it  into  Kentucky,  then  without  a  single  settlement.  Pushing 
down  the  Cumberland  he  reached  the  Ohio  and  the  mouth  of 
the  Tennessee,  but  left  no  trace  of  his  passage  except  the  name 
of  one  of  his  little  band,  Stone,  which  he  gave  to  a  stream 
above  the  site  of  Nashville.     Only  about  ten  years  (1773)  be- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  329 

fore  the  appearance  of  the  itinerants  on  the  Holston,  and  but 
eleven  before  Methodist  local  preachers  penetrated  Kentucky, 
Daniel  Boone,  the  "  illustrious  pioneer,"  after  previous  sur- 
veys, commenced  his  settlement  of  the  latter  county  with  six 
families,  and  began  a  road  from  the  settlements  on  the  Holston 
to  the  Kentucky  Kiver,  harassed  by  the  savages,  who  killed 
four  of  his  men,  and  wounded  as  many  more. 

By  our  present  period  the  current  of  emigration  had  strongly 
set  in  toward  these  western  paradises,  as  they  were  esteemed, 
and  as,  in  all  natural  attractions,  they  were  worthy  to  be 
esteemed.  But  the  privations  and  other  sufferings  of  the  first 
settlers  were  as  yet  only  aggravated  by  the  new  accessions  of 
population.  The  savages  were  rendered  the  more  alarmed  and 
relentless  by  the  increasing  probability  of  the  inundation  of 
their  domain  by  the  white  race,  and  ambuscades  and  massacres 
prevailed  everywhere.  Asbury,  as  we  have  seen,  had  to  travel 
with  armed  convoys,  and  keep  anxious  watch  by  night,  and 
his  preachers  pursued  their  mountainous  routes  in  continual 
hazard  of  their  lives.  Their  fare  was  the  hardest ;  the  habit- 
ations of  the  settlers  were  log-cabins,  clinging  to  the  shelter  of 
"  stations,"  or  stockaded  "  block-houses."  The  preachers  lived 
chiefly  on  Indian  corn  and  game.  They  could  get  little  or  no 
money,  except  what  their  brethren  (themselves  poor)  of  the 
more  eastern  Conferences  could  send  them  by  Asbury.  They 
wore  the  coarsest  clothing,  often  tattered  or  patched.  Their 
congregations  gathered  at  the  stations  with  arms,  with  sentinels 
stationed  around  to  announce  the  approach  of  savages,  and 
were  not  unfrequently  broken  up,  in  the  midst  of  their  wor- 
ship, by  the  alarm  of  the  warwhoop  and  the  sound  of  muskets. 
The  population  was  generally,  though  not  universally,  of  the 
rudest  character ;  much  of  it  likely  to  sink  into  barbarism  had 
it  not  been  for  the  Gospel  so  persistently  borne  along  from  set- 
tlement to  settlement  by  these  unpaid  and  self-sacrificing  men. 
We  have  already  shown,  from  a  contemporary  author,  that 
bankrupts,  refugees  from  justice,  deserters  of  wives  and  chil- 
dren, and  all  sorts  of  reckless  adventurers,  hastened  to  these 
wildernesses.  It  was  soon  demonstratively  evident  that  the 
"itinerancy"  was  a  providential  provision  for  the  great  moral 


330  IKSTORY   OF    THE 

exigencies  of  this  new,  this  strange,  this  vast  western  world, 
almost  barricaded  by  mountains  from  the  Christian  civilization 
of  the  Atlantic  States,  but  not  barricaded  from  the  civilizing 
power  of  Christianity  as  embodied  in  the  indomitable  ministry 
of  Methodism.  These  first  evangelists  were  immediately  fol- 
lowed by  some  of  the  strongest  men  of  the  itinerancy.  Barna- 
bas M'Henry,  a  chieftain  among  them,  entered  the  great  field 
as  early  as  1789,  and  lives  yet  in  its  traditions  as  one  of  its 
most  notable  ecclesiastical  founders.  He  has  the  peculiar 
honor  of  being  the  first  Methodist  preacher  raised  up  west  of 
the  mountains.  He  became  a  chieftain  of  Western  Method- 
ism, braving  its  severest  trials,  and  leading,  on  immense  dis- 
tricts, bands  of  its  ministerial  pioneers.  His  excessive  labors 
broke  him  down  in  1795,  and  he  retired  to  a  farm  near  Spring- 
field, Washington  County,  Ky.,  whence,  however,  he  continued 
his  ministry,  as  he  had  strength,  in  all  the  surrounding  coun- 
try, and  sometimes  to  remote  distances.  He  also  established 
a  school,  in  which  he  successfully  taught,  for  he  appreciated 
the  importance  of  education  to  the  young  Commonwealth  ris- 
ing around  him.  He  resumed  his  itinerant  labors  in  1818, 
and  continued  them,  in  important  western  appointments,  till 
1824,  when  he  was  returned  "superannuated,"  in  wThich  hon- 
ored relation  to  the  Conference  he  remained  till  his  death, 
seven  years  later.  His  ministry  extended  through  forty-six 
years,  twenty-three  of  them  in  the  itinerancy,  and  twenty- 
three  in  the  local  ranks. 

In  the  year  1792  Western  Methodism  reported  three  Dis- 
tricts— two  in  Western  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee, 
under  Poythress  and  M'Henry,  with  such  men  as  Wm.  Burke, 
Wilson  Lee,  Henry  Birchett,  John  Kobler,  John  Lindsey,  and 
Stitli  Mead  on  their  circuits ;  and  one  in  Western  Pennsyl- 
vania, under  Amos  Thompson,  with  Thornton  Fleming,  Daniel 
Hitt,  and  Valentine  Cook  as  preachers. 

Few  men  saw  harder  service  there  than  William  Burke. 
In  the  very  outset  his  circuit'  led  him  through  the  thickest 
perils  of  Indian  warfare.  He  was  a  courageous  man,  and  as 
such  was  chosen  to  command  bands  of  preachers  and  laymen 
who  used  to  advance  to  meet  Asbury  and  conduct  him  west- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  331 

ward  ;  he  led  such  a  band,  consisting  of  sixty  persons,  in  1794, 
through  terrible  difficulties  and  dangers  among  the  Cumber- 
land mountains,  to  meet  the  bishop  on  the  Holston,  when 
four  of  the  corps,  who  had  advanced  one  mile,  were  killed 
and  scalped.  In  1794  we  find  him  on  Salt  River  Circuit, 
famous  for  its  hardships.  It  was  nearly  five  hundred  miles  in 
extent,  comprising  five  counties,  to  be  traveled  every  four 
weeks,  with  continual  preaching.  The  sorely  tried  itinerant 
writes ;  "  I  was  reduced  to  the  last  pinch.  My  clothes  were 
nearly  all  gone.  I  had  patch  upon  patch,  and  patch  by  patch, 
and  I  received  only  money  sufficient  to  buy  a  waistcoat,  and 
not  enough  of  that  to  pay  for  the  making."  By  the  spring  of 
1795  this  brave  man  had  traveled  all  the  Circuits  of  Kentucky, 
save  a  small  one  called  Limestone,  which  lay  on  the  north 
side  of  Licking  River.  From  the  time  that  the  first  Methodist 
missionaries  entered  the  new  field  up  to  this  spring  there  had 
been  one  continued  Indian  war,  while  the  whole  frontier, 
east,  west,  north,  and  south,  had  been  exposed  to  the  inroads 
and  depredations  of  the  merciless  savages.  In  this  spring  was 
the  noted  Nlckajack  expedition,  which  terminated  the  Chero- 
kee carnage.  Wayne's  treaty  at  Greenville,  Ohio,  put  an  end 
to  the  Indian  wars,  and  the  whole  Western  country,  for  once, 
had  peace.  We  read,  in  Burke's  autobiography,  continually 
of  incredible  travels,  labors,  and  sufferings  ;  of  journeys  of  up- 
ward of  a  hundred  miles  without  a  single  house  on  the  way, 
and  of  night  campings  in  the  woods  ;  but  also  of  the  triumphs 
of  the  Gospel  against  the  threatening  barbarism  of  the  wilder- 
ness. At  the  end  of  our  present  period  (1796)  he  recrossed 
the  mountains,  being  appointed  to  Guilford  Circuit,  North 
Carolina.  But  the  next  year  he  was  back  again.  His  fate 
was  now  fixed  for  the  West.  By  the  end  of  the  century  he  had 
command  of  most  of  its  Methodist  interests  ;  and  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1800  he  "  rode  down  two  good  horses,"  had  "  worn  out 
his  clothes,"  was  "  ragged  and  tattered,"  and  had  "  not  a  cent 
in  his  pocket."  He  labored  twenty-six  years  in  the  hardest 
fields  of  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Ohio.  As  late 
as  1811  he  organized  and  took  charge  of  the  first  Methodist 
station  in  Cincinnati,  the  first  indeed  in  Ohio  ;  there  his  health 


332  HISTORY    OF    THE 

failed,  and  he  had  to  retire  from  the  effective  work  of  the 
ministry. 

John  Kobler  appeared  in  1792  among  the  ragged  mount- 
ains of  the  Greenbrier,  under  the  presiding  eldership  of 
Poythress,  whose  District  comprehended  much  of  "Western 
Virginia,  and  Kentucky  as  far  as  Lexington.  In  1793  he 
became  presiding  elder  of  the  entire  denomination  in  the 
Holston  mountains,  with  three  Circuits  and  five  preachers ; 
and  now,  in  an  adequate  field,  he  displayed  his  full  powers 
as  one  of  the  giant  men  of  the  itinerancy,  by  vast  travels, 
powerful  preaching,  and  the  endurance  of  the  worst  trials  of 
the  ministry.  The  next  year  he  retained  command  of  his 
mountain  corps,  enlarged  to  seven  men,  with  five  Circuits. 
We  find  him  there  still  in  1795,  with  seven  Circuits  and  eleven 
men,  among  whom  were  such  befitting  associates  as  Benjamin 
Lakin,  Tobias  Gibson,  and  William  M'Kendree.  His  great 
District  reached  to  this  side  the  mountains.  He  retained  the 
laborious  office  till  1797,  when  he  passed  further  westward, 
and  presided  over  the  whole  field  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 
He  continued  to  traverse  these  wilds  till  1798,  when  we  shall 
meet  him  again,  in  Ohio,  the  first  Methodist  itinerant  who 
entered  the  great  Northwestern  Territory — "  a  man,"  say  his 
brethren,  in  their  Minutes,  "  of  saint-like  spirit,  dignified  and 
ministerial  bearing,  untiring  labors  in  preaching,  praying,  and 
visiting  the  sick ;  "  of  "  preaching  abilities  above  mediocrity  ;  " 
tall,  slender,  with  an  energy  of  soul  which  far  surpassed  that 
of  his  body. 

Among  the  really  great  men  that  begin  now  to  rise  like  a 
host  in  Western  Methodism  is  Thomas  Scott,  known  and  ven- 
erated throughout  the  West  as  Judge  Scott.  In  1794,  at  the 
command  of  Asbury,  he  descended  the  Ohio  Eiver  from 
Wheeling,  on  a  flatboat,  to  join  the  band  of  Kentucky  itin- 
erants, and  met  them  in  Conference  at  the  Bethel  Academy,  in 
Jessamine  County.  He  afterward  labored  on  Danville  and 
Lexington  Circuits.  Marrying  in  1796,  it  became  necessary, 
as  usual  with  his  fellow-laborers,  to  locate.  To  locate,  how- 
ever, was  then,  as  we  have  often  remarked,  not  to  cease  to 
preach.     Preaching  on  Sundays,  he  applied  himself  to  business 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  333 

on  week  days  to  support  his  family.  Meanwhile,  he  studied 
law  as  best  he  could  with  the  few  facilities  for  such  studies  in 
the  "West.  In  1801  he  went  to  Chilicothe,  Ohio,  where  by 
providential  circumstances  he  became  fixed  for  the  remainder 
of  his  long  and  useful  life.  Years  earlier,  while  traveling 
Berkeley  Circuit,  Ya.,  he  was  invited  to  visit  Charlestown, 
about  four  miles  out  of  his  usual  route,  a  place  where  a  few 
Methodists  had  been  for  some  time  molested  by  mobs.  There 
Dr.  Edward  Tiffin  was  received  by  him  into  the  Church. 
JSTow,  eleven  years  later,  as  he  wandered  to  Chilicothe,  he 
found  that  Tiffin  had  also  wandered  thither  from  Yirginia, 
and  was  already  a  commanding  citizen,  preaching  the  Gospel 
in  all  the  surrounding  country,  organizing  Churches,  turning 
his  medical  practice  into  a  means  of  religious  ministration  to 
the  sick  and  dying,  gratuitously  dealing  out  medicines,  with 
his  characteristic  liberality,  to  the  poor,  who  came  to  him  from 
great  distances.  His  excellent  wife  "was,"  says  a  veteran 
itinerant,  "  one  of  the  most  conscientious  and  heavenly-minded 
women  I  ever  saw — a  mother  in  our  Israel,  indeed."  She  was 
one  of  those  select  "  women  of  Methodism  "  who  ministered 
to  Asbury,  and  who  were  honored  with  his  affectionate  friend- 
ship. Asbury,  on  visiting  Chilicothe,  in  1808,  went  to  her 
tomb  and  made  the  following  record :  "  Within  sight  of  this 
beautiful  mansion  lies  the  precious  dust  of  Mary  Tiffin.  It 
was  as  much  as  I  could  do  to  forbear  weeping  as  I  mused  over 
her  speaking  grave.  How  mutely  eloquent !  Ah,  the  world 
knows  little  of  my  sorrows  ;  little  knows  how  dear  to  me  are 
my  many  friends,  and  how  deeply  I  feel  their  loss ;  but  they 
all  die  in  the  Lord,  and  this  shall  comfort  me.  I  delivered 
my  soul  here.  May  this  dear  family  feel  an  answer  to  Mary 
Tiffin's  prayers." 

The  doctor  became  the  chief  citizen  of  Ohio ;  which  was  still  a 
territory  ;  he  was  one  of  its  legislators  ;  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  convention  which  formed  its  state  constitution,  and  soon 
after  had  the  signal  honor  to  be  elected  its  first  state  governor 
"  without  opposition."  Scott  was  welcomed  to  Chilicothe  by 
his  old  friend  and  convert.  He  sent  for  his  family,  and  settled 
there.     Tiffin  gave  him  employment  in  a  clerkship,  and  pro- 


334  HISTORY   OF   THE 

moted  his  legal  business  and  studies.  He  was  elected  secre- 
tary to  the  convention  for  the  formation  of  the  state  constitu- 
tion. The  Legislature  appointed  him  a  judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  whose  chief  justice  he  became  one  year  later.  His 
official  rank  secured  him  public  influence,  and  this  he,  like  his 
friend  Tiffin,  consecrated  to  religion.  They  were  two  of  the 
strongest  pillars  of  Methodism  in  Ohio,  and  to  their  public 
character  and  labors  it  owes  much  of  its  rapid  growth  and 
predominant  sway  in  that  magnificent  State. 

In  following  Scott  northward,  in  order  to  complete,  at  one 
view,  the  outline  of  his  career,  we  have  anticipated,  somewhat 
important  events  of  our  narrative,  for  we  leave  him  and  Tiffin 
representative  Methodists  in  Ohio  before  we  have  witnessed 
its  introduction  into  the  great  "Northwestern  Territory." 
The  anticipation,  however,  is  but  brief;  we  have  already  seen 
Kobler,  its  first  regular  itinerant,  tending  toward  that  region ; 
and  before  the  close  of  our  present  period,  its  recognized 
founder  in  Ohio,  a  local  preacher,  had  reached  it.  In  the  ac- 
count of  Henry  Smith,  a  convert  of  Judge  Scott,  in  Virginia, 
and  himself  a  western  pioneer,  we  have  met,  in  Western 
Virginia,  an  obscure  but  most  interesting  character  by  the 
name  of  Francis  M'Cormick.  M'Cormick,  "  a  powerful  man  " 
with  the  fist  and  the  ax,  was  a  young  fellow-convert,  and  a 
fellow-exhorter,  with  Smith.  We  have  seen  both  essaying 
their  first  ability  as  "exhorters"  in  "Davenport's  Meeting- 
House,"  at  the  "head  of  Bullskin,"  a  place  where  Tiffin  also 
had  often  preached.  The  name  of  Francis  M'Cormick  was 
destined  to  become  dear  in  the  hearts,  and  great  in  the  history, 
of  his  people  as  the  founder  of  Methodism  in  the  most  impor- 
tant section  of  the  North  American  continent,  the  North- 
western Territory.  Like  the  martyr  Tucker,  and  other  local 
preachers  of  that  day,  he  emigrated,  in  1795,  to  Kentucky, 
more  to  preach  the  Gospel  than  to  get  gain.  He  settled  in 
Bourbon  County,  but  was  soon  dissatisfied  with  his  position. 
He  crossed  the  Ohio,  and  built  his  log-cabin  at  Milford,  in 
Clermont  County.  Seven  years  afterward  he  removed  to 
what  is  now  known  as  Salem,  but  for  many  years  was  called 
"  M'Cormick's  Settlement,"  about  ten  miles  from  the  site  of 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  335 

Cincinnati.  At  Milford  lie  found  the  settlers  thoroughly  de- 
moralized, for  lack  of  the  means  of  religion,  and  forthwith  be- 
gan his  good  work,  inviting  them  to  assemble  to  hear  the 
word,  which  he  proclaimed  to  them  "as  the  voice  of  one 
crying  in  the  wilderness."  He  formed  a  class  there,  the 
first  Methodist  Society  organized  in  the  Northwestern  Terri- 
tory. He  went  out  preaching  among  the  settlements,  and 
soon  established  two  other  classes,  one  near  the  present  town 
of  Lockland,  the  other  near  Columbia.  He  made  urgent 
appeals  to  the  Kentucky  itinerants,  informing  them  of  the 
new  and  open  door  of  the  great  Northwest,  and  calling  for 
immediate  help.  John  Kobler  soon  responded,  and  became 
the  first  regular  Methodist  preacher  north  and  west  of  the 
Ohio  Eiver.  We  shall  have  occasion,  before  long,  to  fol- 
low him,  and  thenceforward  will  rise  before  us  the  gigantic 
Methodism  of  the  great  northern  states  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley. 

Henry  Smith,  our  own  venerated  contemporary  of  "Pil- 
grim's Best,"  was  now  also  itinerating  in  the  West,  having 
gone,  as  we  have  seen,  to  Clarksburgh  Circuit,  on  the  Monon- 
gahela,  Ya.,  in  1794.  He  shared  there  the  trials  and  the 
triumphs  common  to  his  ultramontane  fellow-laborers.  At 
his  first  appointment,  about  fifteen  miles  beyond  Clarksburgh, 
he  found  "  a  good  Methodist  Society,"  under  the  care  of  the 
devoted  Joseph  Chieuvrant,  "a  respectable  local  preacher." 
The  congregation  came  from  miles  around.  "They  were," 
says  he,  "  all  backwoods  people,  and  came  to  meeting  in  back- 
woods style,  a  considerable  congregation.  I  looked  round  and 
saw  one  old  man  who  had  shoes  on  his  feet.  The  preacher 
wore  Indian  moccasins;  every  man,  woman,  and  child  be- 
sides was  barefooted."  They  were  still  exposed  here  to  the 
Indians,  and  Chieuvrant  not  only  preached  in  moccasins,  but 
shouldered  his  gun  and  followed  the  trail  in  pursuit  of  the 
murderous  savages.  In  some  places  Smith  saw  the  men 
"  coming  to  meeting  with  their  rifles  on  their  shoulders,  guard- 
ing their  families,  then  setting  their  guns  in  a  corner  of 
the  house  till  after  meeting,  and  returning  in  the  same  order." 
"  O  what  a  poor  chance,"  he  exclaims,  "  these  people  had  to 


336  HISTORY    OF    THE 

be  religious!   and  yet  I  found  some  very  pious  souls  among 
them." 

In  1795  he  was  sent  to  the  famous  Kedstone  Circuit.  At 
the  Baltimore  Conference  of  1796,  "  Asbury,"  he  says,  "  called 
for  volunteers  to  go  to  Kentucky,  and  fixed  his  eye  upon  me 
as  one.  I  said,  '  Here  am  I,  send  me.'  I  was  ordained  in  a 
private  room,  before  Conference  opened ;  and  in  a  few  hours 
after  my  ordination  John  Watson  and  myself  were  on  horse- 
back, on  our  way  to  Kentucky,  almost  before  any  one  knew 
we  were  going."  He  hastened  into  the  interior  and  found 
Poythress,  who  sent  him  to  Salt  River  Circuit.  For  some 
years  he  was  a  successful  pioneer  of  the  Church,  "traveling 
round  every  Circuit  in  Kentucky  and  visiting  every  Society," 
sharing  fully  the  trials  and  triumphs  of  the  mighty  men  who 
were  then  abroad  there,  Poythress,  M'Henry,  Burke,  Kobler, 
and  their  compeers.  "  Methodism,"  he  remarks,  "  had  spread, 
when  I  went  out,  nearly  over  the  State,  though  opposed  every- 
where, and  by  nearly  every  sort  of  people."  He  passed  also 
into  the  Northwestern  Territory,  and  became  a  co-laborer  of 
Kobler  and  M'Cormick. 

In  the  great  trans-Alleghany  field  we  meet  again  Yalentine 
Cook,  that  "wonderful  man"  of  whom  marvelous  traditions 
are  rife  in  the  Church,  from  the  interior  lakes  of  New  York, 
through  the  Wyoming  and  Tioga  mountains,  and  Redstone 
and  Holston  countries,  down  to  the  remotest  regions  of  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee.  He  was  on  the  Pittsburgh  and  Clarks- 
burgh  Circuits,  and  the  Pittsburgh  District,  during  these 
years,  and  afterward  pushed  into  Kentucky,  where  he  spent 
the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  was  considered  the  most  learned 
man  of  the  American  itinerancy  of  his  day.  His  early 
education,  at  Cokesbury,  and  his  devotion  to  biblical  studies 
and  the  classic  languages,  together  with  a  peculiar,  original 
capacity  of  mind,  very  much  like  genius,  gave  him  an  intel- 
lectual vigor  which,  combined  with  extraordinary  moral  force 
and  unction,  rendered  him  a  sort  of  prodigy  among  his 
brethren. 

Besides  the  itinerants  heretofore  mentioned,  many  yet 
young,  but  destined  to  become  historical  characters,  had  al- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  337 

ready  entered,  or  were  about  to  enter,  the  great  West,  such  as 
Daniel  Hitt,  John  Lindsey,  Tobias  Gibson,  Benjamin  Lakin, 
William  Beauchamp.  William  M'Kendree  had  been  tending 
thither  for  some  years,  traveling  a  Virginia  District  which 
stretched  beyond  the  Blue  Kidge  into  the  Greenbrier  country ; 
he  was  soon  to  enter  Kentucky  as  the  chieftain  of  Western 
Methodism,  and  to  inaugurate  a  new  era  in  its  history. 
Eobert  E.  Eoberts  was  preparing  for  his  episcopal  career,  in 
the  woods,  on  the  banks  of  the  Little  Chenango.  James 
Quinn  (who  first  led  Eoberts  into  public  labors)  was  about  to 
start  on  his  first  Circuit.  John  Sale  was  being  trained  on  the 
hardest  Circuit  of  Virginia,  and  was  soon  to  make  his  way 
over  the  mountains.  Thornton  Fleming,  whom  we  have  met 
in  the  far  North,  was  rapidly  rising  to  that  commanding  in- 
fluence which  he  long  wielded  in  the  old  Pittsburgh  Confer- 
ence. John  Collins,  still  in  New  Jersey,  was  seeking  to  save 
his  soul,  and  leading  his  brother-in-law,  the  memorable  Earner 
Blackman,  into  a  holy  life,  both  to  become  founders  of  the 
Church  in  the  Northwest.  James  B.  Finley,  yet  a  youth, 
but  a  "mighty  hunter,"  was  pondering,  in  the  Western 
woods,  reports  of  the  marvels  of  Methodism.  Peter  Cart- 
wright,  "naturally  a  wild,  wicked  boy,  delighting  in  horse- 
racing,  card-playing,  and  dancing,"  was  studying,  in  the  Ken- 
tucky wilderness,  under  Beverly  Allen,  and  wondering  at  the 
strange  news  that  reached  him  occasionally  from  the  Meth- 
odist "Ebenezer"  Church,  a  few  miles  to  the  south.  Philip 
Gatch,  whom  we  have  so  often  met  as  one  of  the  first  two 
American  itinerants,  was  preparing  to  leave  his  retreat  in 
Virginia  and  plunge  into  the  wilds  of  Ohio,  where  he  was 
to  do  good  service  for  the  Church.  Methodism  was,  in  short, 
putting  on  strength  all  through  the  settled  regions  of  the 
West.  It  had  now  spread  entirely  over  Kentucky  and  Ten- 
nessee ;  there  was  hardly  a  "  block-house  station "  or  "  settle- 
ment" where  the  itinerants  did  not,  at  longer  or  shorter 
intervals,  sound  their  trumpets,  and  it  had  commenced  that 
march,  that  triumphant  march,  into  the  Northwestern  Ter- 
ritory, in  which  it  has  continuously  gone  on  from  conquering 
to   conquer.     Log  chapels  were  rising  through  the  wilder- 

22 


338  niSTORY   OF    THE 

ness ;  there  was  probably  not  yet  a  single  church  of  higher 
pretensions;  cabins,  barns,  and  the  sheltering  woods  were 
the  most  common  sanctuaries.  By  the  end  of  this  period, 
the  autumn  of  1796,  there  were  west  of  the  mountains  four 
Districts,  twenty-three  Circuits,  thirty-six  traveling  preachers, 
and  6,500  Church  members.  The  few  Methodists  of  Ohio 
were  yet  unreported.  Tennessee  had  about  550,  Kentucky 
about  1,750;  the  remainder  were  in  Western  Pennsylvania 
and  Virginia.  The  West  had  already  much  more  than  double 
the  number  reported  from  New  England. 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  339 


CHAPTEK  XXIII. 

GENEEAL   CONFEEENCE   OF   1796  —  METHODISM  IK  THE   SOUTH: 

1796-1804. 

The  third  General  Conference  was  appointed  to  meet  in  Balti- 
more on  the  20th  of  October,  1796.  No  difficult  business, 
however,  was  pending,  and  it  need  not  long  delay  the  chrono- 
logical course  of  our  narrative.  Coke  had  been  in  the  "West 
Indies,  England,  Ireland,  and  Holland,  promoting  his  missions, 
writing  his  commentary,  and  preaching  continually.  He  ar- 
rived in  the  Chesapeake  Bay  on  the  3d  of  October,  but  was 
detained  there  five  days  by  unfavorable  winds.  On  the  18th 
October  he  reached  Baltimore,  two  days  before  the  Conference 
opened.  Asbury  was  enjoying  the  hospitality  of  Gough  at 
Perry  Hall,  but  joined  his  colleague  in  the  city  on  the  19th, 
where,  he  says,  about  a  hundred  preachers  were  in  attendance ; 
according  to  Lee,  twenty  more  arrived  later.  The  most  im- 
portant business  done  at  this  session  was  the  definite  arrange- 
ment of  the  whole  Church  in  six  yearly  Conferences,  to  be  no 
longer  called  "District,"  but  Annual  Conferences,  namely, 
the  New  England,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Yirginia,  South 
Carolina,  and  Western  Conferences;  the  adoption  of  a  form 
of  deed  for  the  security  of  Church  real  estate,  vesting  its  own- 
ership in  the  Societies,  to  be  held  for  them  by  their  trustees, 
but  guaranteeing  the  use  of  the  pulpits  to  the  authorized 
ministry ;  the  establishment  of  the  "  Chartered  Fund "  for 
the  relief  of  "distressed  traveling  preachers,  the  families  of 
traveling  preachers,  superannuated  and  worn-out  preachers, 
and  the  widows  and  orphans  of  preachers,"  an  institution 
which  still  exists;  the  enactment  of  the  rule  that  "if  any 
member  of  our  Society  retail  or  give  spirituous  liquors,  and 
anything  disorderly  be  transacted  under  his  roof  on  this  ac- 
count, the  preacher  who  has  the  oversight  of  the  Circuit  shall 
proceed  against  him,  as  in  the  case  of  other  immoralities,  and 


340  HISTORY   OF   THE 

the  person  accused  shall  be  cleared,  censured,  suspended,  or 
excluded,  according  to  his  conduct,  as  on  other  charges  of  im- 
morality." Though  defeated  in  their  original  provisions  against 
slavery,  the  zeal  of  the  ministry,  on  that  question,  was  still  un- 
abated, and  the  Conference  asked  the  question,  "  What  regula- 
tions shall  be  made  for  the  extirpation  of  the  crying  evil  of 
African  slavery?"  and  answered  by  some  stringent  regula- 
tions on  the  subject.  The  largest  space  devoted  to  any  one 
subject  in  the  journal  of  this  session  is  that  given  to  education, 
prescribing  minute,  though  they  are  entitled  "  General  Rules 
for  the  Methodist  Seminaries  of  Learning."  The  session  con- 
tinued two  weeks.  Its  aggregate  membership  shows  a  loss, 
since  1792,  of  more  than  nine  thousand ;  it  had  been  losing 
for  three  years,*  the  effect  of  the  O 'Kelly  schism  ;  but  substan- 
tially it  had  never  been  more  vigorous  or  more  progressive. 
Away  from  the  local  disturbance,  it  was  not  only  fortifying  all 
its  positions,  but  gaining  in  numerical  strength.  In  New 
England  it  more  than  doubled  its  Circuits,  and  nearly  doubled 
its  preachers  and  communicants.  It  had  now  intrenched  it- 
self in  all  the  Eastern  States.  In  Canada  it  had  trebled  its 
Circuits,  quadrupled  its  ministry,  and  nearly  trebled  its  mem- 
bership. The  chief  force  of  the  denomination  was  now  in 
Yirginia;  she  reported  nearly  14,000  members;  more  than 
three  times  the  number  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Maryland 
ranked  next,  and  had  nearly  12,500 ;  more  than  four  times  as 
many  as  Pennsylvania,  and  more  than  three  times  the  number 
of  New  York.  New  Hampshire  ranked  lowest  on  the  list  of 
the  States,  her  Methodistic  roll  having  yet  but  sixty-eight 
names.  The  aggregate  membership  throughout  the  republic 
and  Canada  was  56,664,  the  aggregate  ministry  293  ;  showing 
a  loss,  for  the  four  years,  of  9,316  members,  and  a  gain  of  27 
preachers.  The  decrease,  occasioned  chiefly  by  the  Yirginia 
controversy,  excited  alarm.  A  General  Fast  was  proclaimed 
for  the  first  Friday  in  March,  1796,  "  to  be  attended  in  all  the 
societies  and  congregations  with  Sabbatic  strictness,"  and 
among  the  sins  enumerated,  as  demanding  this  penitence,  was 

*It  reported  a  diminution  of  white  members  as  early  as  1*793,  but  the  loss  wa3 
then  more  than  repaired  by  the  gain  of  black  members. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  341 

that  of  slavery.  The  declension  of  numbers  ceased  from  this 
year ;  slowly  but  surely  the  returns  increased  until  they  rolled 
up  in  those  grand  aggregates  which  have  astonished  not  only 
the  denomination  itself,  but  the  religious  world. 

Asbury  and  Coke  left  the  Conference  together  for  the  South 
on  the  4th  of  November,  1795.  They  were  soon  among  the 
scenes  of  the  O'Kelly  schism  in  Virginia.  "  I  feel  happy," 
wrote  Asbury,  "among  the  few  old  disciples  who  are  left.  My 
mind  of  late  hath  been  in  great  peace.  The  Lord  can  give  us 
children,  l  that  we  shall  have  after  we  have  lost  our  former,' 
who  shall  say  in  our  hearing,  '  Give  place,  that  there  may  be 
room  for  us  to  dwell.'  My  dear  aged  friends  told  me  their 
troubles  and  sorrow,  which  the  divisions  in  the  Societies  had 
caused."  He  adds,  after  seeing  a  spot  memorable  to  us  all,  "  I 
had  solemn  thoughts  while  I  passed  the  house  where  Kobert 
Williams  lived  and  died,  whose  funeral  rites  I  performed." 
Coke  rejoiced,  in  the  Virginia  Conference  at  "Maybery's 
Chapel,"  not  only  for  the  prospect  in  that  State,  but  in  the 
whole  country,  for  his  vivid  faith  was  prophetic  of  American 
Methodism.  Asbury's  allusions  to  his  illness  and  dejection  are 
increasingly  frequent.  He  was  suffering  under  a  violent  at- 
tack of  intermittent  fever,  his  old  foe,  which  perhaps  was  una- 
voidable while  he  exposed  himself  to  all  climates  and  weather 
of  the  continent,  exhausted  most  of  the  time  by  travel,  and 
much  of  it  by  scarcity  of  food.  "  My  depression  of  spirits,"  he 
says,  "  at  times  is  awful,  especially  when  afflicted ;  that  which 
is  deeply  constitutional  will  never  die  but  with  my  body.  I 
am  solemnly  given  up  to  God,  and  have  been  for  many  months 
willing  to  live  or  die  in,  for,  and  with  Jesus."  He  was,  in  short, 
unconsciously  guilty  of  overworking  himself,  and  all  who  were 
immediately  associated  with  him,  and  had  been  doing  so  for 
years.  Even  his  horse  had  to  share  in  his  sufferings.  "  My 
horse,"  he  writes,  "  trots  stiff,  and  no  wonder,  as  I  have  ridden 
him,  upon  an  average,  five  thousand  miles,  a  year  for  the  last 
five  years  successively."  He  was  at  length  compelled  to  rest 
for  weeks,  sending  Jesse  Lee  to  do  his  southern  work.  Lee 
left  him,  in  repose,  in  Virginia,  and  passed  rapidly  along,  hav- 
ing about  live  hundred  miles  to  travel  and  twenty-five  appoint- 


842  HISTORY   OF   THE 

ments  to  meet  in  thirty  days.  He  reached  Charleston  by  the 
beginning  of  1798.  He  had  been  in  the  city,  with  Asbury  and 
Willis,  about  thirteen  years  before,  and  preached  the  first  ser- 
mon on  that  occasion ;  he  now  met  there  an  Annual  Confer- 
ence, beheld  two  chapels,  with  seventy-seven  white  and  four 
hundred  and  twenty-one  black  Methodists,  while  in  the  State 
were  four  thousand  six  hundred  members.  He  penetrated  into 
Georgia,  where  he  preached  twenty-one  sermons  in  twenty-seven 
days.  Eeturning  northward  he  hastened  along,  preaching  con- 
tinually with  an  ardor  and  eloquence  that  stirred  the  Churches. 
He  met  Asbury  again  at  the  Virginia  Conference,  in  Salem, 
where  he  preached  the  opening  sermon,  and  says,  "  We  had  a 
most  powerful,  weeping,  shouting  time ;  the  house  seemed  to 
be  filled  with  the  presence  of  God.  Bishop  Asbury  exhorted 
for  some  time,  and  the  people  were  much  melted  under  the 
word.  Several  new  preachers  engaged  in  the  work,  and  we 
had  a  very  good  supply  for  all  the  Circuits."  Lee  again  met 
Asbury  at  the  Baltimore  Conference,  where  he  dedicated  a  new 
church,  and  then  hastened  to  his  hard  but  favorite  field  of  the 
East.  But  before  the  close  of  the  year  he  was  again  abroad  in 
the  South.  After  traveling  over  the  vast  See  of  Asbury,  in 
1799,  he  says :  "  Our  borders  were  greatly  enlarged  this  year, 
and  the  way  was  opening  for  us  to  spread  further,  and  to  send 
forth  more  laborers  into  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord."  In  1800 
Asbury  accompanied  him,  but  Lee  did  most  of  the  preaching. 
From  three  to  six  thousand  people  heard  them  weekly.  Lee 
endured  their  hard  fare  as  sturdily  as  the  bishop ;  they  often 
"  had  kitchen,  house,  and  chamber  all  in  one,  and  no  closet  but 
the  woods;"  or  " found  shelter  in  a  log-cabin  without  doors, 
and  with  thirty  or  forty  hogs  sleeping  under  it."  Their  chief 
affliction,  however,  was  the  demoralization  of  the  rustic  popu- 
lation. There  were  "  people  grown  to  men's  estate,  and  some 
that  had  families,  who  never  heard  a  sermon  till  last  summer  " 
when  the  Methodist  itinerants  had  reached  them. 

Down  to  the  General  Conference  of  1804  Lee  confined  his 
labors  to  Virginia,  where  he  was  universally  popular  for  not 
only  his  rare  eloquence,  but  his  unsparing  devotion  to  his 
work.     Withal,  his  characteristic  and  irrepressible  humor  gave 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  343 

him  a  species  of  power  not  without  value.  It  attracted  a  class 
of  minds  which  might  not  otherwise  have  come  within  his 
reach.  It  also  enabled  him  to  give  effective  rebukes,  which 
rendered  him  a  terror  to  evil-doers.  "  On  one  occasion,"  says 
his  biographer,  "  when  he  was  engaged  in  the  opening  services 
of  public  worship,  he  perceived  the  gentlemen  intermixed  with 
the  ladies,  and  occupying  seats  appropriated  to  the  latter. 
Supposing  them  to  be  unaware  of  the  violation  of  our  order, 
he  respectfully  stated  the  rule  upon  the  subject,  and  requested 
them  to  take  their  seats  on  their  own  side  of  the  house.  All 
but  a  few  immediately  complied  with  the  request.  It  was 
again  repeated,  and  all  but  one  left.  He  stood  his  ground  as 
if  determined  not  to  yield.  Again  the  rule  was  repeated,  and 
the  request  followed  it.  But  no  disposition  to  retire  was  in- 
dicated. Leaning  down  upon  the  desk,  and  fixing  his  pene- 
trating eye  upon  the  offender  for  a  moment,  and  then  raising 
himself  erect,  and  looking  with  an  arch  smile  over  the  con- 
gregation, he  drawled  out,  '  Well,  brethren,  I  asked  the  gentle- 
men to  retire  from  those  seats,  and  they  did  so.  But  it  seems 
that  man  is  determined  not  to  move.  We  must,  therefore, 
serve  him  as  the  little  boys  say  wThen  a  marble  slips  from  their 
fingers — let  him  '  go  for  slippance.' "  To  say  he  slipped  out 
of  the  house  is  only  to  describe  the  fact  in  language  borrowed 
from  the  figure  by  which  the  rebuke  was  conveyed.  At  an- 
other time,  while  engaged  in  preaching,  he  was  not  a  little 
mortified  to  discover  many  of  the  congregation  taking  rest  in 
sleep,  and  not  a  little  annoyed  by  the  loud  talking  of  the 
people  in  the  yard.  Pausing  long  enough  for  the  absence  of 
the  sound  to  startle  the  sleepers,  he  raised  his  voice,  and  cried 
out,  "  I'll  thank  the  people  in  the  yard  not  to  talk  so  loud ; 
they'll  wake  up  the  people  in  the  house  !  "  This  was  u  killing 
two  birds  with  one  stone  "  in  a  most  adroit  and  effectual  man- 
ner. Anecdotes  of  the  wit  of  Lee  are  still  current  all  through 
the  denomination.  It  was  usually  very  genial,  but  could  be 
sufficiently  arrowy  to  make  opponents  and  wags  keep  at  a  due 
distance  or  approach  him  with  deference. 

Peace  was  now  generally  restored  in  the  southern  section  of 
the  Church,  and  its  Societies  were  rapidly  growing.      The 


344  HISTORY  "OF    THE 

Hammett  schism  had  dwindled  nearly  away,  and  some  of  its 
pulpits  were  already  occupied  by  the  itinerants.  The  O'Kelly 
secession  still  occasionally  disturbed  the  Societies  of  Virginia, 
but  the  leaders  of  the  denomination,  after  having  sturdily 
defended  it,  now  adopted  the  wise  policy  of  letting  the  recu- 
sants alone.  Though  the  schism  lingered,  it  gradually  died 
from  this  period,  and  extraordinary  "  revivals  "  followed,  not 
only  in  Virginia,  but  throughout  the  South.  This  renewed 
interest  pervaded  the  whole  city  of  Baltimore  during  the 
General  Conference  there  in  1800.  The  Conference  sat  in  a 
private  room,  while  the  local  preachers,  the  young  traveling 
preachers,  and  others  were  almost  continually  engaged  in  car- 
rying on  the  meetings  in  the  Church,  and  in  private  houses. 
"  At  one  time  the  meeting  continued,"  says  Lee,  "  without  in- 
termission for  forty-five  hours,  which  was  almost  two  days  and 
nights."  The  excitement  spread  through  most  of  Maryland 
and  Virginia,  and  continued  throughout  the  year.  In  1801  it 
extended  "greatly  in  most  parts  of  the  Connection,"  but  pre- 
vailed chiefly  in  Maryland  and  Delaware.  It  overleaped  the 
Western  mountains,  and  prevailed  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 
like  fire  on  the  prairies.  In  1802  the  interest  extended.  At 
Rockingham  a  meeting  continued  nine  days;  "business  was 
wholly  suspended,  merchants  and  mechanics  shut  up  their 
shops,"  and  "  little  else  was  attended  to  but  waiting  upon  the 
Lord."  The  people  crowded  in  from  all  the  surrounding 
country,  and  hundreds  were  converted.  In  North  and  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia  similar  scenes  occurred,  and  lasted 
through  most  of  our  present  period.  Many  individual  Societies 
were  reinforced  by  a  hundred  additions  at  a  time.  Quarterly 
meetings  were  frequently  turned  into  protracted  camp-meet- 
ings, and  it  seemed,  to  the  sanguine  evangelists,  that  the  whole 
population  was  about  to  bow  before  the  power  of  their  word. 
In  short,  the  subsequent  predominance  of  Methodism  in  the 
South  can  be  traced  to  the  impulse  that  it  now  received. 

Southern  Methodism  was  powerfully  manned  during  this 
period.  M'Kendree,  Whatcoat,  George,  Everett,  Bruce,  Blan- 
ton,  Spry,  Mead,  Jenkins,  Lee,  (the  latter  part  of  the  time,) 
Ilitt,  Wilson  Lee,  Dougharty,  M'Caine,  were  among  its  pre- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  345 

siding  elders ;  while  such  men  as  Sale,  Harper,  Gibson,  Smith, 
Hill,  Keed,  Bloodgood,  Sargent,  Fleming,  Lyell,  M'Coy, 
Myers,  Gassaway,  Walters,  M'Combs,  Daniel  Asbury,  Wells, 
Cowles,  Jones,  Frye,  Koberts,  were  among  the  circuit  itiner- 
ants. George  Dougharty  occupies  a  conspicuous  place  in  the 
early  annals  of  Southern  Methodism.  "  By  application  and 
perseverance  he  took,"  says  one  of  his  fellow-laborers,  "  a  stand 
in  the  front  rank  of  the  South  Carolina  band  of  pioneers,  mar- 
shaling the  armies  of  the  sacramental  host  from  the  sea-shore 
to  the  Blue  Ridge."  He  was  ungainly  in  his  person ;  tall, 
slight,  with  but  one  eye,  and  negligent  of  dress ;  but  his  intel- 
lect was  of  lofty  tone,  his  logical  powers  remarkable,  and  his 
eloquence  at  times  absolutely  irresistible.  In  1801  he  was  at- 
tacked by  a  mob  in  Charleston,  S.  C,  provoked  by  the  anti- 
slavery  action  of  the  General  Conference.  They  dragged 
him  from  the  church  to  a  pump,  where  they  pumped  upon 
him  till  he  was  exhausted,  and  would  probably  have  perished, 
had  not  a  heroic  Methodist  woman  interfered,  stopping  up  the 
mouth  of  the  pump  with  her  shawl.  She  held  the  mob 
abashed  by  her  remonstrances  till  a  courageous  citizen  threw 
himself  into  their  midst  with  a  drawn  sword,  rescued  their 
victim,  and  led  him  to  a  place  of  shelter.  He  never  recovered 
from  this  inhuman  treatment,  but  lingered  with  consumption 
till  the  South  Carolina  Conference  of  1807,  when  his  voice  was 
last  heard,  in  that  body,  proposing  and  advocating  a  resolution, 
that  any  preacher  who  should  desert  his  appointment  "  through 
fear  in  times  of  sickness  or  danger  "  should  never  again  be  em- 
ployed by  the  Conference,  a  requisition  necessary  in  that  re- 
gion of  epidemics.  He  "  spoke,"  says  the  old  Minutes,  "  to  the 
case  with  amazing  argument  and  energy,  and  carried  his  cause 
like  a  dying  general  in  victory."  He  died  this  year  at  Wil- 
mington, K  C,  where  he  was  appropriately  "buried  in  the 
African  Church." 

William  Watters,  the  first  native  American  Methodist 
preacher,  reappears  in  the  appointments  for  the  year  1801, 
after  having  been  located  about  eighteen  years.  During  his 
location  he  preached  habitually,  and  often  at  distances  of 
many  miles  from  his  home.     He  was  now  fifty  years  old,  ma- 


346  IIISTOKY   OF   THE 

ture  in  health  and  character,  of  extreme,  amiability,  good 
sense,  self-possession,  and  soundness  of  judgment.  During 
most  of  our  present  period  he  labored  at  Alexandria,  George- 
town, and  Washington.  He  located  again  in  1806,  and  we 
get  but  few  later  glimpses  of  him.  Boehm,  the  traveling 
companion  of  Asbury,  says  that  in  February,  1811,  while  in 
Yirginia,  they  "  rode  to  William  Watters's.  He  was  now 
living  in  dignified  retirement  on  his  farm  on  the  Yirginia  side 
of  the  Potomac,  opposite  Georgetown,  and  was  a  stout  man, 
of  medium  height,  of  very  venerable  and  solemn  appearance. 
Bishop  Asbury  and  he  were  lifetime  friends.  When  these 
aged  men  met  on  this  occasion  they  embraced  and  saluted 
each  other  with  <  a  holy  kiss.'  Few  holier  ministers  has  the 
Methodist  Church  ever  had  than  William  Watters.  In  1833, 
at  the  age  of  eight}T-two,  he  died  in  holy  triumph." 

Enoch  George  resumed  his  itinerant  labors  in  1799  on 
Rockingham  Circuit,  Yirginia,  where,  he  says,  "  the  windows 
of  heaven  were  again  opened,  and  grace  descended  upon  us." 
In  1800  he  had  charge  of  a  District  extending  from  the  Alle- 
ghanies  to  the  ChesajDeake  Bay,  and  requiring  from  one  thou- 
sand to  twelve  hundred  miles  travel  quarterly.  His  excessive 
labors  brought  back  his  old  infirmities,  for  "  in  those  days,"  he 
says,  "  the  preachers  '  ceased  not  to  warn  every  one  night  and 
day  with  tears '  in  doing  the  work  given  them,  and  exerted 
themselves  not  only  to  increase  the  numbers,  but  the  holiness 
of  the  people.  It  was  our  duty  to  attend  diligently  to  the 
Africans,  in  forming  and  establishing  Societies ;  but  as  their 
masters  would  not  allow  them  to  attend  the  meetings  during 
the  day,  we  were  obliged  to  meet  them  at  night.  Oftentimes 
this  kept  us  up  and  out  till  late,  in  this  unhealthy  climate, 
which  had  a  destructive  influence  upon  our  health."  He 
broke  down,  was  again  located,  and  taught  school  in  Win- 
chester, Ya.,  for  his  support.  He  preached  meanwhile  on 
Sabbaths,  and  having  recovered  sufficient  strength  re-entered 
the  itinerancy  in  1803,  and  labored  successively  and  mightily 
on  Frederick  Circuit,  Baltimore  District,  Alexandria  District, 
Georgetown,  Frederick,  Montgomery,  and  Baltimore  Circuits, 
and  Baltimore  and  Georgetown  Districts,  till  his  consecration 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  347 

to  the  episcopate.  William  M'Kendree  traveled  during  the 
present  period,  down  to  the  end  of  the  century,  on  vast  Dis- 
tricts in  Virginia.  His  labors  were  almost  superhuman,  inter- 
fering, he  says,  with  his  studies,  and  impairing  his  nervous 
system ;  but  he  rejoiced  in  the  rapid  extension  of  the  Church. 
In  1800  he  was  again  on  his  Richmond  District,  but  had 
passed  round  it  only  once  when  Asbury  and  Whatcoat  met 
him,  with  orders  to  pack  up  forthwith,  and  throw  himself  into 
the  great  Western  field  as  leader  of  its  itinerant  pioneers. 
"  I  was,"  he  says,  "  without  my  money,  books,  or  clothes. 
These  were  all  at  a  distance,  and  I  had  no  time  to  go  after 
them ;  but  I  was  not  in  debt,  therefore  unembarrassed.  Of 
moneys  due  .me  I  collected  one  hundred  dollars,  bought  cloth 
for  a  coat,  carried  it  to  Holston,  and  left  it  with  a  tailor  in  the 
bounds  of  my  new  District.  The  bishops  continued  their 
course :  my  business  was  to  take  care  of  their  horses,  and  wait 
on  them,  for  they  were  both  infirm  old  men."  They  were 
soon  descending  the  western  slope  of  the  Alleghanies,  whither 
we  shall  hereafter  follow  them. 

Tobias  Gibson,  also,  after  seven  years  of  hardest  service  in 
Georgia  and  South  Carolina,  penetrating,  in  1795,  to  the 
Holston  region,  departed  in  1799  for  the  further  West,  the  first 
Methodist  pioneer  of  the  Southern  Mississippi  Valley;  we 
shall  soon  have  occasion  to  greet  him  there. 

By  the  close  of  this  period  the  Minutes  had  ceased  to  return 
Church  members  according  to  States,  but  reported  them  accord- 
ing to  Conferences.  There  were  now  three  of  these  bodies  in 
the  South :  Baltimore  Conference,  with  23,646  members ;  Vir- 
ginia, with  17,139  ;  and  South  Carolina,  with  14,510.  The 
aggregate  of  Southern  Methodists  was  55,295,  of  whom  more 
than  14,000  were  Africans.  The  gain  for  the  last  eight  years 
had  been  15,554,  an  average  of  nearly  two  thousand  a  year. 
The  South  had  now.nearly  one  half  of  all  the  membership  of 
the  Church  including  that  of  Canada.  More  than  a  hundred 
and  sixty  itinerants  were  abroad  in  its  Conferences. 


348  HISTOPwY   OF  THE 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

MIDDLE  AND    NORTHERN  METHODISM  :   1796-1804. 

The  Church  in  the  Middle  States  shared  largely  in  the  relig- 
ious interest  which  we  have  noticed  as  prevailing  throughout 
the  South  in  the  present  period.  It  was  indeed  universal,  if 
not  simultaneous,  from  Maine  to  Tennessee,  from  Georgia  to 
Canada.  Some  of  our  early  authorities  attribute  it  to  the 
impulse  given  by  the  labors  of  Wooster  in  the  latter  section 
of  the  denomination.  It  seems,  however,  to  have  been  one  of 
those  mysterious  "  times  of  refreshing  "  which  appear  at  inter- 
vals in  Christian  communities,  pass  through  their  salutary 
cycle,  and  subside,  to  reappear  in  due  time.  Some  excesses 
were  incidental,  if  not  unavoidable  to  the  excitement.  Wat- 
ters  was  perplexed  by  them.  Enoch  George  hesitated  before 
them,  and  used  repressive  measures  at  first ;  but  these  prudent 
men,  and  their  brethren  generally,  seem  to  have  arrived  at 
the  conclusion  of  Wesley  and  his  colaborers  in  similar  cases, 
that  such  proofs  of  human  weakness,  or  even  folly,  were  not 
disproofs  of  the  genuineness  of  the  revival ;  it  being  natural, 
if  not  inevitable,  that  human  infirmity  should  mingle  even 
with  a  divine  work  among  fallen  men.  They  saw  that  the 
results  of  the  excitement  were  salutary,  that  its  general  char- 
acter was  good,  its  defects  exceptional.  In  Baltimore  it 
prevailed  mightily.  It  extended  all  through  Maryland  and 
Delaware ;  the  chapels  and  meetings  at  private  houses  were 
crowded  in  the  evenings,  and  by  day  the  harvest  fields,  work- 
shops, the  forests  where  the  woodmen  were  cutting  timber,  and 
the  homes  of  the  people,  were  vocal  with  Methodist  hymns.  It 
seemed,  remarks  a  witness  of  the  scene,  that  all  the  population 
were  turning  unto  the  Lord.  About  the  beginning  of  the  cen- 
tury the  yellow  fever  prevailed  in  the  Atlantic  cities,  and  added 
much  to  the  religious  seriousness  of  the  times.      The  Methodist 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  349 

preachers  were  steadfast  at  their  posts  through  the  period  of  the 
pestilence  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore.  Some 
perished  by  it,  but  their  Churches  prospered  greatly. 

Asbury  made  no  less  than  twelve  passages  over  the  Middle 
States  in  these  years,  going  to  and  returning  from  the  East ; 
but,  as  usual  in  this  mature  portion  of  the  Church,  his  notes 
are  too  meager  to  afford  any  historical  information  or  interest. 
Thomas  Ware,  whom  we  have  met  in  so  many  widely-apart 
sections,  was  sent  at  the  beginning  of  this  period  to  the  Phil- 
adelphia District,  which  extended  from  Wilmington,  Del.,  to 
the  Seneca  Lake,  N.  Y.  "  A  glorious  religious  excitement," 
he  writes,  "  commenced  on  Strasburgh  and  Chester  Circuits, 
which  spread  through  the  whole  peninsula,  exceeding  anything 
I  have  ever  witnessed.  This  revival  embraced  all  classes, 
governor,  judges,  lawyers,  and  statesmen,  old  and  young,  rich 
and  poor,  including  many  of  the  African  race,  who  adorned 
their  profession  by  a  well-ordered  life,  and  some  of  them  by 
a  triumphant  death." 

Dr.  Chandler,  studying  medicine  under  Kush,  of  Philadel- 
phia, was  recalled  to  the  itinerancy  by  Ware,  and  became  one 
of  its  most  influential  members.  He  was  eminently  useful 
and  popular  on  districts  and  in  Philadelphia  down  to  1813, 
when  he  located,  irrecoverably  broken  down  in  health.  In 
1822  his  name  was  replaced  upon  the  Conference  roll,  that  he 
might  die  a  member  of  the  body,  though  unable  to  perform 
active  service.  He  had  preached  as  he  had  strength  till  1820, 
when  he  was  struck  with  paralysis  in  the  pulpit  of  Ebenezer 
Church,  Philadelphia.  He  went  to  the  West  Indies  for  relief, 
but  suffered  there  a  second  attack,  and  hastened  home  to  die. 
On  a  Sunday  morning  he  said  to  his  class  leader,  "  Go  to  the 
meeting  and  tell  them  I  am  dying,  shouting  the  praises  of 
God ! "  Soon  after  this  he  sunk  into  a  stupor,  in  which  he 
remained  to  the  last.  In  stature  he  was  of  medium  height, 
his  countenance  was  "fine  and  expressive,"  his  manners  bland 
and  polished,  but  without  affectation;  his  intellect  much 
above  mediocrity,  and  his  preaching  often  of  an  enrapturing 
eloquence. 

Solomon  Sharp,  whose  name  is  still  familiar  throughout  the 


350  HISTORY    OF   THE 

Churches  of  the  Middle  States,  was  one  of  the  conspicuous 
itinerants  of  these  times,  traveling  important  Circuits  in  Del- 
aware, large  Districts  in  New  Jersey,  and  closing  the  period 
in  Philadelphia.  He  was  an  original,  an  eccentric,  but  a 
mighty  man.  His  sermons  were  powerful,  and  delivered  with 
a  singular  tone  of  authority,  as  if  he  were  conscious  of  his 
divine  commission.  His  form  was  tall,  remarkably  robust, 
and  in  his  latter  years  he  was  one  of  the  most  noticeable  and 
patriarchal  figures  in  the  Conference,  with  long  white  locks 
flowing  upon  his  shoulders,  and  a  bearing  of  no  little  dignity. 
His  voice  was  powerful,  and  he  sometimes  used  it  to  its  utmost 
capacity,  especially  at  camp-meetings ;  "  but,"  says  one  of  his 
friends,  "  there  was  nothing  in  his  manner  that  savored  of 
extravagance.  He  was  noted  for  h^s  courage,  and  it  is  sup- 
posed that  he  was  hardly  capable  of  feeling  fear.  He  had 
occasion  sometimes,  at  camp-meetings  and  elsewhere,  to  show 
this  quality.  ~No  opponent  challenged  it  a  second  time.  In 
his  old  age  a  company  of  reckless  young  men  attempted  to 
play  a  '  practical  joke '  upon  him  by  sending  for  him  to  come 
to  their  workshop,  under  pretense  that  one  of  their  number 
was  in  great  distress  of  conscience,  and  was  desirous  that  he 
should  converse  and  pray  with  him.  Prompt  to  obey  every 
call  of  duty,  and  especially  such  a  call  as  this,  he  hastened  to 
the  place,  where  he  found  a  person  apparently  in  such  a  state 
of  mind  as  had  been  represented.  He  listened  with  close  at- 
tention to  the  sad  recital,  and  was  about  to  proceed  to  give 
the  appropriate  instruction,  when  something  in  the  appear- 
ance of  one  or  more  of  the  men  who  were  standing  around 
awakened  his  suspicion  that  all  was  not  right ;  and  presently 
the  whole  company,  not  excepting  the  poor  creature  who  had 
consented  to  be  the  subject  of  the  impious  farce,  were  exhibit- 
ing a  broad  grin  at  their  imagined  triumph.  But  the  old  hero 
was  not  at  all  at  a  loss  how  to  meet  such  an  emergency.  He 
instantly  closed  the  door  and  stood  with  his  back  against  it ; 
and,  as  there  was  no  other  way  by  which  they  could  make 
their  escape,  they  were  obliged  to  listen,  while  he  placed  their 
characters  and  conduct  in  a  light  that  was  entirely  new  to 
them.     He  dwelt  upon  their  meanness  as  well  as  their  wicked- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  351 

ness.  He  called  them  heaven-daring,  heaven-provoking,  hell- 
deserving  sinners.  He  wrought  himself  np  into  a  perfect  storm 
of  indignation,  while  he  denounced  upon  them  the  threaten- 
ings  of  God,  and  brought  vividly  before  them  the  terrors  of 
the  judgment.  The  infidel  sneer  and  laugh  soon  gave  place  to 
the  deepest  concern ;  and  it  was  not  long  before  they  actually 
trembled,  like  Belshazzar,  when  he  saw  the  handwriting  on 
the  wall.  And  now  they  began  to  cry  for  mercy.  '  Down  on 
your  knees,  down  on  your  knees,'  said  the  veteran  ;  and  they 
actually  fell  upon  their  knees,  praying,  and  begging  the  good 
old  man  to  pray  for  them.  He  did  pray  for  them,  and  some 
of  them  dated  the  beginning  of  a  religious  life  from  that 
period." 

Thomas  Smith  was  an  effective  laborer  in  the  revival  scenes 
of  this  period  in  the  Middle  States.  He  was  converted  in 
early  life,  and  almost  in  the  act  of  committing  suicide.  "I 
had  caught  up  the  rope,"  he  says,  "  and  had  taken  hold  of  the 
ladder,  and  put  my  foot  on  a  round  of  it,  when  the  thought 
rushed  into  my  mind,  '  It  is  an  awful  thing  to  die ;  you  had 
better  pray  first ! '  "  He  dropped  the  rope  at  the  foot  of  the 
ladder,  fell  on  his  knees,  and  continued  praying  until  his  dis- 
turbed mind  was  restored,  and  his  troubled  conscience  found 
peace  with  God.  In  his  eighteenth  year  he  began  to  preach. 
Throughout  our  present  period  he  labored  in  Delaware  and 
New  Jersey  with  great  power ;  the  demonstrations  which  had 
attended  Abbott  were  repeated  at  almost  all  his  appoint- 
ments, and  hundreds  of  souls  were  gathered  into  the  So- 
cieties. He  and  his  colleague,  Anning  Owen,  the  itinerant 
hero  of  Wyoming,  suffered  no  little  maltreatment.  Though 
preaching  with  the  utmost  energy,  Smith  was  remarkable  for 
the  shortness  of  his  sermons,  seldom  exceeding  twenty  minutes. 
In  these  primitive  times,  when  the  congregations  gathered  from 
great  distances,  they  demanded  longer  entertainment;  and, 
strange  as  it  may  seem  in  our  day,  would  sometimes  remon- 
strate against  its  brevity.  He  never,  however,  would  consent 
to  prolong  a  single  sermon,  but  sometimes  would  dispatch  one, 
and,  announcing  a  second  text,  discuss  another  subject,  and 
formally  concluding  it,  add  even  a  third  text  and  discourse. 


352  HISTORY   OF    THE 

His  courage  was  unshakable,  and  he  needed  it  all  in  his  many 
encounters  with  persecutors.  On  one  of  his  Circuits,  in  1801, 
"Ware  was  with  him,  preaching  with  overwhelming  effect,  while 
a  band  of  young  men  waited  at  the  door  with  bludgeons  to  at- 
tack Smith.  When  the  meeting  closed  he  boldly  advanced 
through  them,  brushing  their  clothes,  and  seeing  their  clubs, 
but  every  arm  hung  down  helpless.  The  next  day  he  was 
fearlessly  preaching  among  them  in  the  open  air  to  three  thou- 
sand African  slaves.  A  few  days  afterward  he  was  "  waylaid 
by  four  of  his  opposers,  who  had  bound  themselves  under  an 
oath  to  spill  his  blood  that  day."  He  appealed  to  God,  "  I 
will  put  my  trust  in  thee,"  and  rode  bravely  past  them,  hear- 
ing them  curse  one  another  behind  him,  with  mutual  accusa- 
tions of  cowardice.  Nothing  could  deter  him.  "  The  work 
of  the  Lord,"  he  wrote,  "  has  been  going  on  day  and  night 
for  six  months  past,  and  Christ's  kingdom  is  coming.  On  this 
Circuit  we  have  no  rest  week.  A  pity  we  should,  while  souls 
are  perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge.  Let  us  be  up  and  at 
our  posts.  We  generally  preach  twice  a  day,  meet  two  classes, 
and  get  up  a  prayer-meeting  somewhere  in  the  afternoon  if  we 
can.  Our  work  on  this  Circuit  is  never  done ;  we  rest,  and  at 
it  again."  Such  was  Thomas  Smith  throughout  these  and 
many  subsequent  years,  a  man  who  preached  with  the  utmost 
brevity,  but  with  the  utmost  power.  He  had  great  physical 
vigor,  was  stout  to  corpulence,  below  the  ordinary  height,  erect 
and  authoritative  in  mien,  fastidiously  neat  in  dress,  exceed- 
ingly sociable  among  his  intimate  friends,  and  preached  always 
with  intense  excitement,  moving  through  his  twenty-minute 
discourse  like  a  war-steed  in  a  charge. 

Henry  Boehm  began  his  long  itinerant  career  in  our  present 
period.  We  have  repeatedly  alluded  to  the  old  homestead  of 
his  venerable  father,  Martin  Boehm,  who,  expelled  from  the 
"  Mennonites "  for  his  "  too  evangelical  opinions,"  became  a 
bishop  among  the  "  United  Brethren,"  or  "  German  Method- 
ists," a  people  founded,  as  we  have  seen,  by  the  labors  of  As- 
bury's  friend  Otterbein.  He  lived  and  died  a  patriarch  of 
Methodism  in  Lancaster  Count}7,  Pennsylvania.  His  home  at 
Conestoga  is  consecrated  in  the  early  Methodist  records  as  the 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUEOH.  353 

frequent  shelter  of  Asbury,  Whatcoat,  and  most  of  the  Meth- 
odist leaders.  We  have  noticed  the  achievements  of  Abbott 
in  "Boehm's  Chapel,"  and  all  through  its  neighborhood. 
Henry  Boehm  was  converted  in  1793,  through  the  instrumen- 
tality of  Chandler,  but  concealed  the  fact  for  five  years. 
"  These,"  he  writes,  "  were  lost  years ;  lost  to  myself,  lost  to 
the  Church,  and  lost  to  the  world.  There  is  nothing  in  my 
early  history  I  regret  so  much  as  the  loss  of  these  five  years." 
He  heard  Strawbridge  and  Abbott,  and  most  of  the  itinerant 
u  sons  of  thunder,"  at  Boehm's  Chapel.  This  famous  structure 
was  planned  by  Whatcoat,  and  built,  in  1791,  of  limestone,  on 
a  hill  which  commands  a  magnificent  view  of  the  surrounding 
country.  "  There  were  wonderful  gatherings,"  he  says,  "  at 
Boehm's  Chapel.  The  bishops  and  the  great  men  of  Method- 
ism found  their  way  there,  and  preached  the  word."  In  1800 
Thomas  Ware  called  him  out  to  travel  Dorchester  Circuit, 
Md.,  famous  as  the  region  into  which  Catharine  Ennalls  had 
introduced  Methodism,  and  where  Garrettson  suffered  his  most 
memorable  persecutions  and  imprisonment.  His  next  circuit 
was  Annamessex,  where  he  labored  with  William  Colbert.  It 
has  a  singular  history.  An  itinerant  on  his  way  to  Accomac, 
beyond  the  line,  in  Virginia,  inquired  for  his  route,  and  was 
cruelly  directed  in  a  course  that  led  him  into  Cypress  Swamp, 
which  extended  many  miles ;  plunging  into  it,  he  discovered 
that  he  had  been  deceived ;  but  after  wandering  about  in  the 
mud,  bogs,  and  water,  in  danger  of  sinking  and  perishing,  he 
came  out  near  the  house  of  Jephthah  Bowen,  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Pocomoke  Eiver.  Bowen  gave  him  a  hearty  welcome. 
The  preacher  prayed  with  so  much  effect  in  the  family  that  he 
was  invited  to  preach  at  the  house.  He  did  so,  and  the 
people  were  so  pleased  with  his  sermon  that  Bowen's  house 
became  a  regular  preaching  place.  Thus  Methodism  was  prov- 
identially introduced  into  that  region  of  the  country.  Jephthah 
Bowen  and  many  of  his  neighbors  were  converted,  and  a 
Society  was  early  formed  at  his  house.  He  lived  long  enough 
to  see  the  frame  of  a  new  chapel  erected,  which  bore  his  name. 
"  This  led  to  the  formation  of  several  Societies  in  that  region y 
and  to  the  conversion  of  multitudes.     His  children  and  chil- 

23 


354  HISTORY  OF   THE 

dren's  children  were  blessed,  being  the  descendants  of  those 
who  entertained  the  Lord's  prophets." 

Boehm  afterward  labored  in  Pennsylvania,  and  introduced 
Methodism  into  Reading  and  Harrisbnrgh,  through  much 
opposition.  At  the  former,  he  says,  "  there  was  a  shop  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  school-house,  where  some  men  used  to 
meet  together.  One  of  the  company,  a  young  man,  undertook 
to  mimic  the  Methodists.  He  went  on  to  show  how  they  acted 
in  their  meetings.  He  shouted,  clapped  his  hands,  and  then 
he  would  show  how  they  fell  dowu.  (The  Methodists  in  that 
day  would  sometimes  fall  and  lose  their  strength.)  He  then 
threw  himself  down  on  the  floor,  and  lay  there  as  if  asleep. 
His  companions  enjoyed  the  sport ;  but  after  he  had  lain  for 
some  time  they  wondered  why  he  did  not  get  up.  They  shook 
him  in  order  to  awake  him..  When  they  saw  he  did  not 
breathe  they  turned  pale,  and  sent  for  a  physician,  who  ex- 
amined the  man  and  pronounced  him  dead.  This  awful  inci- 
dent did  two  things  for  us  :  it  stopped  ridicule  and  persecution  ; 
it  also  gave  us  favor  in  the  sight  of  the  people.  They  believed 
that  God  was  for  us.  Little  do  the  present  Methodists  of  Bead- 
ing know  of  our  early  struggles  and  difficulties.  Now  they 
have  two  churches,  Ebenezer  and  St.  Paul's,  and  Reading  is 
the  head  of  a  District,  which  is  not  larger  than  my  Circuit  in 
1803.  German  was  the  pioneer  language,  and  prepared  the 
way  for  the  English.  I  could  have  accomplished  but  little 
there  if  I  had  not  been  able  to  preach  in  German."  Boehm 
and  Jacob  Gruber,  his  colleague,  were  thus  successfully  bear- 
ing the  standard  of  Methodism  into  the  German  regions  of 
Pennsylvania  before  the  close  of  our  present  period.  The  for- 
mer was  to  survive  till  our  day,  and  his  personal  life  has  been 
woven  into  our  whole  subsequent  Church  history. 

Jacob  Gruber  was  one  of  the  unique  "  characters  "  of  these 
times.  Many  of  us  still  recall  him :  his  prim  clerical  costume ; 
his  white  locks  sleekly  combed  behind  his  ears;  his  German 
accent,  his  glowing,  genial  face,  with  its  quizzical  play  of 
humor  and  sarcasm,  that  at  once  attracted  and  held  on  anxious 
guard  the  interlocutor ;  his  unrivaled  power  of  quaint  and  ap- 
posite illustration ;  his  aptness  and  humor  in  telling  a  story ;  his 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  355 

tireless  readiness  for  labor,  and  his  staunch  tenacity  for  every- 
thing Methodistic.  His  colleague,  Boehm,  says  he  was  at  this 
time  a  fine,  intelligent-looking  man,  and  his  countenance  often 
expressed  a  thing  before  his  tongue  uttered  it.  "  He  had  a 
German  face  and  a  German  tongue,  and  often  looked  quizzical. 
He  wore  a  drab  hat,  and  a  suit  of  gray  cut  in  Quaker  style. 
"With  a  rough  exterior,  but  a  kind  heart,  it  was  necessary  to 
know  him  in  order  to  appreciate  him.  A  more  honest  man 
never  lived;  a  bolder  soldier  of  the  cross  never  wielded  'the 
sword  of  the  Spirit.'  As  a  preacher  he  was  original  and  eccen- 
tric. His  powers  of  irony,  sarcasm,  and  ridicule  were  tremen- 
dous, and  woe  to  the  poor  fellow  who  got  into  his  hands ;  he 
would  wish  himself  somewhere  else." 

He  had  been  driven  by  his  father  from  his  home  on  account 
of  his  new  faith.  He  took  his  leave,  with  his  clothes  in  a  knap- 
sack, and  wended  his  way  on  foot  toward  Lancaster,  not  knowing 
what  should  befall  him.  But  on  the  route  a  Methodist  preacher 
on  horseback  accosted  him ;  a  few  minutes  conversation  sufficed 
to  make  known  his  forlorn  case  to  the  itinerant,  who  exhorted 
him  to  go  out  forthwith  and  preach  the  Gospel,  recommending 
him  to  a  vacancy  on  a  Circuit.  No  advice  could  better  suit 
Gruber's  feelings  at  the  moment.  He  immediately  spent  all 
his  little  means  in  purchasing  a  horse,  and  mounting  him  was 
away  for  the  Circuit.  Thus  commenced,  in  about  his  twenty- 
second  year,  his  long  and  never-slackened  itinerant  career  of 
more  than  half  a  century,  during  the  whole  of  which,  it  has 
been  affirmed  as  "  a  remarkable  fact,"  that  there  was  not  a 
gap  or  intermission  of  four  consecutive  weeks  for  any  cause 
whatever.  His  appointments  .  extended  from  New  Jersey, 
through  Pennsylvania,  to  the  Greenbrier  mountains  of  "West- 
ern Yirginia,  from  the  interior  lake  regions  of  New  York  to 
the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake.  He  was  presiding  elder  eleven 
years,  was  on  Circuits  thirty-two,  and  during  seven  filled  im- 
portant stations  in  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  Washington. 
He  died  an  honored  veteran  of  more  than  seventy-two  years, 
and  in  a  manner  befitting  his  career.  On  being  informed  that 
he  could  not  live  through  another  night,  "  Then,"  he  replied, 
"  to-morrow  I  shall  spend  my  first  Sabbath  in  heaven  !     Last 


356  HISTOEY   OF    THE 

Sabbath  in  the  Church  on  earth — next  Sabbath  in  the  Church 
above ! " 

Peter  Tannest  was  a  worthy  coadjutor  of  these  faithful  men. 
He  labored  some  years  in  the  Eastern  States,  then  in  Canada 
during  two  years,  and  subsequently  for  seventeen  years  in  the 
Middle  States,  from  "Western  New  York  to  Maryland.  Tak- 
ing a  "  superannuated  relation  "  in  1821,  he  resided  in  Pember- 
ton,  1ST.  J.,  till  his  death  in  1850.  His  death  was  not  only 
peaceful,  it  was  triumphant.  Thomas  Burch  joined  the  Phila- 
delphia Conference  in  the  last  year  of  our  present  period.  His 
labors  extended  from  Montreal  to  Baltimore,  in  the  most  prom- 
inent appointments  of  the  Church.  One  of  his  familiar  minis- 
terial associates  says :  "  He  was  one  of  the  most  amiable  and 
sweet-tempered  men  I  ever  knew.  As  a  preacher  he  always 
held  a  very  high  rank.  The  most  remarkable  attribute  of 
his  preaching,  and  indeed  of  his  character  generally,  was  a 
charming  simplicity." 

It  was  in  the  present  period  that  the  "  Evangelical  Associ- 
ation," sometimes  called  "German  Albright  Methodists,"  had 
its  origin  in  Pennsylvania.  This  sect  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  "  United  Brethren,"  or  "  German  Methodists,"  of 
whom  some  account  has  been  given  in  our  pages.  Jacob  Al- 
bright was  converted  under  the  ministry  of  the  elder  Boehm, 
and  became  a  local  preacher  among  the  Methodists  in  the  year 
1790.  In  1796  he  began  to  itinerate  as  an  evangelist  among 
the  Germans,  being  convinced  that  "  his  call  was  exclusively  to 
them."  Asbury  "  esteemed  him  as  a  brother  beloved,"  and 
doubtless  the  prevalent  influence  and  example  of  Methodism 
in  Pennsylvania  prompted  his  extraordinary  labors,  and  its 
practical  system  became  the  model  of  the  organization  of  his 
people.  In  1807  Henry  Boehm  procured,  at  his  own  expense, 
the  translation  and  publication  in  German  of  the  Methodist 
Discipline.  The  translator  was  an  accomplished  scholar,  Dr. 
Romer,  of  Middletown,  Pa.,  a  physician,  who  had  been  edu- 
cated in  Europe  as  a  Roman  priest,  but  Whose  vigorous  intellect 
had  broken  away  from  Popery  and  had  fallen  into  philosophic 
skepticism.  The  devoutly  exemplary  life  of  a  remarkable 
Methodist  woman  restored  his  faith.     He  became  a  Methodist 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  357 

in  1800,  and  his  house  was  for  years  a  home  and  a  "  preaching 
place  "  of  the  early  itinerants.  He  prefixed  to  his  version  of 
the  Discipline  an  admirable  account  of  Methodism.  This  book 
had  great  influence  on  the  Germans  of  not  only  Pennsylvania, 
but  of  other  parts  of  the  country,  for  Boehm  and  Asbury 
circulated  it  generally.  We  owe  to  it  doubtless  the  Method- 
istic  type  so  strongly  impressed  upon  both  the  Otterbein  and 
Albright  communions ;  the  "  United  Brethren  in  Christ,"  and 
the  "Evangelical  Association."  The  former,  as  we  have  seen, 
have  the  Methodistic  economy  in  detail ;  the  latter  has  equally 
adopted  it,  both  in  its  ecclesiastical  system  and  its  articles  of 
religion.  Albright  organized  his  converts  in  1800.  In  1803 
their  increase  demanded  more  thorough  care,  and  he  was  ap- 
pointed their  presiding  elder.  They  were  regularly  organized 
as  a  Conference  in  1807,  the  year  of  Romer's  translation  of  the 
Discipline.  Albright  died  six  months  after  the  Conference. 
In  1809  his  people  took  the  name  of  "  Albrights,"  and  at  the 
same  time  one  of  their  preachers  framed  their  Articles  of 
Faith  and  Discipline.  In  our  day  they  are  an  important  part 
of  the  German  Methodistic  Christianity  of  the  country,  report- 
ing eight  Conferences,  three  bishops,  four  hundred  and  five 
traveling,  and  three  hundred  and  twenty -three  local  preachers, 
with  more  than  fifty  thousand  communicants,  and  several 
educational  institutions.  Thus,  while  the  denomination  was 
spreading  out,  wave  after  wave,  among  the  general  population 
of  the  country,  it  was  continually  revealing  special  power  or 
adaptation  for  special  classes.  Its  peculiar  "  economy  "  and 
its  spiritual  vitality  explain,  in  part,  at  least,  this  ever-varying 
and  ever-growing  success.  Its  ministerial  itinerancy  brought 
it  into  the  presence,  face  to  face,  of  every  class  in  almost 
every  locality.  Its  spiritual  vitality  met  a  profoundly  felt 
want  of  earnest  minds,  in  whatever  class ;  a  want  that  was  not 
usually  met  by  contemporary  communions. 

The  New  York  Conference  was  still  an  immense  territory, 
comprising  New  England  west  of  the  Connecticut  and  the 
Green  Mountains,  all  the  Methodist  field  of  Canada,  and  New 
York  along  the  Hudson  and  westward  till  it  reached  the  in- 
cipient Circuits  where  the  itinerants  from  the  Philadelphia 


358  HISTORY   OF   THE 

Conference  and  from  west  of  the  Pennsylvania  mountains  were 
planting  Societies.  At  the  beginning  of  this  period  there  was 
nominally  no  New  York  Conference,  its  territory  being  in- 
cluded (by  act  of  the  General  Conference  of  1796)  in  the  New 
England  and  Philadelphia  Conferences;  but  by  the  General 
Conference  of  1800  it  was  defined  as  including  much  of  Con- 
necticut, New  Hampshire  and  Vermont,  Canada,  and  all 
New  York  east  of  the  Hudson.  It  comprised  during  these 
years  a  host  of  able  itinerants,  many  of  whom  have  already 
been  noticed. 

A  memorable  character  entered  its  ministerial  ranks  in  1798, 
Billy  Hibbard,  still  familiar  to  the  Church  by  his  extraordinary 
wit,  his  devoted  life,  and  useful  labors.  When  his  name  was 
called  in  the  Conference  as  William  Hibbard,  he  gave  no  re- 
sponse. The  bishop  asked  him  if  this  was  not  his  name. 
"  No,  sir,"  he  replied.  "  What  is  it,  then  ? "  inquired  the  bish- 
op. "  It  is  Billy  Hibbard."  "  Why,"  said  the  bishop,  with  a 
smile,  "that  is  a  little  boy's  name."  "I  was  a  very  little  boy 
when  my  father  gave  it  to  me,"  replied  Hibbard.  "  The  Con- 
ference was  convulsed  with  laughter,"  says  Boehm,  for  many 
of  them  knew  him.  When  his  character  was  examined,  as 
was  customary,  it  was  objected  to  him  that  he  practiced 
medicine.  .  "  Are  you  a  physician,  Brother  Hibbard  ?  "  inquired 
the  bishop.  "  I  am  not,"  he  replied  ;  "  I  simply  give  advice 
in  critical  cases."  "  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?  "  asked  the 
bishop.  "  In  critical  cases,"  said  Hibbard,  "  I  always  advise 
them  to  send  for  a  physician."  His  humor  seemed  not  to 
interfere  with,  but  to  enhance  his  usefulness.  It  attracted 
hearers  which  perhaps  nothing  else  could  bring  within  his  in- 
fluence. His  meetings  were  usually  thronged.  A  tenacious 
Quaker  hung  about  him,  charmed  with  his  conversation,  but 
not  venturing  to  attend  his  preaching,  objecting  that  the 
custom  of  "  Friends  "  required  him  to  wear  his  hat  in  the  con- 
gregation. Hibbard  sent  him  a  hearty  invitation  to  come  and 
wear  his  hat,  or  two  of  them  if  he  wished,  offering  to  lend  him 
his  own  for  the  purpose  if  the  good  man  would  accept  it.  He 
could  resist  the  charm  no  longer,  went,  and  became  a  zealous 
Methodist,  and  a  useful  class  leader. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  359 

Hibbard  labored  in  the  Church  about  fifty  years,  devotedly 
and  successfully.  He  died  in  1844,  in  great  peace,  and  in  the 
forty-sixth  year  of  his  itinerant  ministry.  He  was  a  very 
genial  man,  humorous,  amiable,  without  learning,  yet  abound- 
ing in  intelligence,  fond  of  anecdote,  and  exceedingly  happy  in 
telling  one:  surprisingly  apt  in  laconic  remarks,  richly  en- 
dowed with  the  spirit  of  piety,  ever  ready  for  religious 
conversation,  a  thorough  lover  of  his  country,  and  staunchly 
republican  in  his  politics ;  a  tireless  laborer  in  the  pulpit,  and 
one  of  the  most  useful  men  in  our  early  annals. 

Samuel  Merwin  will  not  soon  be  forgotten  among  the  Meth- 
odist Societies  of  the  Atlantic  States  from  Canada  to  Mary- 
land. Dignified  in  person,  powerful  in  eloquence,  generous 
in  spirit,  and  mighty  in  labors,  he  was  one  of  the  most  popu- 
lar preachers  of  his  day.  His  ministry  extended  through 
about  forty  years,  and  have  rendered  his  name  familiar 
through  the  Northern  and  Middle  Churches.  His  person 
was  large  and  commanding,  and  his  voice  musical  and  strong, 
swaying  the  greatest  assemblies.  Exceedingly  graceful  in  his 
movements  and  lively  in  his  affections,  he  was  a  perfect  Chris- 
tian gentleman.  He  possessed  superior  powers  of  government, 
and  discharged  the  functions  of  the  presiding  eldership  with 
special  ability.  The  invaluable  talent  of  reconciling  discord- 
ant brethren  or  Societies  was  his  in  a  rare  degree,  and  the 
kindly,  sympathetic  spirit  which  usually  accompanies  that 
talent  characterized  him  everywhere,  and  imparted  to  his  min- 
istrations a  richly  consolatory  character.  His  pulpit  appeals 
were  accompanied  by  a  flowing  and  sweeping  eloquence,  some- 
times jrising  to  wonderful  power  and  majesty,  and  the  living 
evidences  of  his  usefulness  are  yet  found  throughout  the  whole 
extent  of  his  pastoral  labors. 

Few  men  were  more  prominent  in  the  service  of  the  Church 
during  this  period  than  Sylvester  Hutchinson ;  but  as  he  lo- 
cated the  next  year  after  its  close,  the  Minutes  give  him  no 
other  record  than  his  appointments.  Yet  he  traveled  seven- 
teen years  in  New  Jersey,  Maryland,  New  York,  New  En- 
gland. When  he  had  charge  of  Pittsfield  District,  he  was 
the  presiding  elder  of  the  youthful  Elijah  Hedding,  afterward 


360  HISTORY    OF    THE 

bishop.  Heckling  always  spoke  of  him  in  the  highest  terms. 
"  The  District,"  says  Bishop  Clark,  in  his  Life  of  Hedding, 
"  was  of  gigantic  proportions,  and  the  presiding  eldership  no 
sinecure  in  those  early  days.  It  embraced  New  York  city,  the 
whole  of  Long  Island,  and  extended  northward,  embracing  the 
whole  territory,  having  the  Connecticut  River  on  the  east  and 
Hudson  River  and  Lake  Champlain  on  the  west,  and  stretching 
far  into  Canada.  It  included  nearly  the  whole  territory  now 
included  within  three  annual  conferences.  Hutchinson  was  a 
man  of  burning  zeal  and  indomitable  energy.  Mounted  upon 
his  favorite  horse,  he  would  ride  through  the  entire  extent  of 
his  District  once  in  three  months,  visiting  each  Circuit,  and  in- 
variably filling  all  his  numerous  appointments.  His  voice 
rung  like  a  trumpet  blast ;  and  with  words  of  fire,  and  in  pow- 
erful demonstration  of  the  Spirit,  he  preached  Christ  Jesus. 
He  was  a  small  man,  but  had  a  very  strong  voice,  and  seemed 
never  to  be  wearied  ;  he  lived  in  the  Spirit,  and  was  constantly 
ready  for  every  good  wrord  and  work." 

With  such  itinerants  were  associated  in  the  northern  field, 
in  these  years,  many  congenial  men :  Garrettson,  Bostwick, 
Arnold,  Jewel,  Draper,  Crowell,  Sawyer,  M'Claskey,  Morrell, 
Ostrander,  Michael  Coate,  Jayne,  Moriarty,  Ryan,  and  others. 
The  revivals  which  have  been  noticed  as  prevailing  in  the 
south  and  middle  parts  of  the  country,  extended  up  the  Hud- 
son, and  spread  westward  to  the  New  York  Lakes,  and  east- 
ward over  New  England,  greatly  recruiting  the  Societies  and 
the  ministry.  Joseph  Sawyer,  whom  we  shall  soon  meet  in 
Canada,  preached,  in  1798,  a  discourse  of  great  effect  in  Peters- 
burgh,  N.  Y.,  under  which  Ebenezer  Washburn,  a  school 
teacher,  was  awakened.  He  hastened  to  the  nearest  Society, 
in  Hoosack,  and  joined  it.  His  wTife  and  several  of  his  neigh- 
bors were  converted,  and  they  formed  the  first  class  in  Peters- 
burgh.  Washburn  became  one  of  the  holiest  and  most  useful 
of  the  early  itinerants.  He  began  his  successful  career  by  ex- 
horting among  his  neighbors,  and  it  was  not  long  before  he 
reported  thirty  converts  on  the  Petersburgh  mountains.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  nearly  half  a  century  of  ministerial  labors, 
sufferings,  and  triumphs.     Before  the  end  of  our  period  Meth- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  361 

odism  was  successfully  planted  in  Troy.  A  class  was  formed 
there  as  early  as  1801,  but  it  had  nearly  expired,  when,  in 
1801,  John  Wright,  a  lay  Methodist,  moving  to  the  city,  in- 
quired for  his  brethren,  and  found  "  a  small  company  worship- 
ing in  a  private  house."  In  three  or  four  years  they  were  able 
to  build  a  humble  temple  in  State-street.  It  became  the  head- 
quarters of  a  "charge,"  including  Troy,  Albia,  West  Troy, 
Lansingburgh,  and  Brunswick,  but  for  twelve  or  fifteen  years 
the  whole  membership  hardly  exceeded  one  hundred.  Troy 
now  gives  name  to  a  powerful  Conference.  In  1802  William 
Anson  was  sent  to  plant  the  Church  on  Grand  Isle,  in  Lake 
Champlain.  He  extended  his  Circuit  to  other  islands,  and  even 
into  Canada,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year  reported  more  than  a 
hundred  Church  members.  Before  the  end  of  the  century 
Methodism  had  got  a  permanent  footing  in  Warren  County, 
near  the  head  of  the  Hudson,  a  locality  then  called  "  Thur- 
man's  Patent."  Josiah  Woodward  and  Samuel  Crane,  with 
their  families,  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  Society  which  gave 
origin  at  last  to  the  "  old  Thurman  Circuit."  The  first  infor- 
mation they  ever  received  of  Methodism  was  the  news  of  the 
drowning  of  Richard  Jacobs,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  perished 
in  Schroon  Lake,  while  traversing,  as  an  evangelist,  this  dis- 
tant wilderness.  His  death  led  to  inquiries  about  the  "  new 
sect ; "  the  settlers  were  excited  with  curiosity  to  see  and  hear 
an  itinerant.  Henry  Eyan  arrived  there  in  1798,  and  lodged 
with  Crane.  Woodward  invited  him  to  preach  at  his  neigh- 
boring house.  Ryan  stayed  long  enough  to  form  a  class,  com- 
prising these  two  families,  seven  members  in  all.  The  little 
Society  was  attached  to  the  nearest  Circuit,  and  supplied  with 
preaching  once  in  four  weeks.  Another  class  was  soon  formed 
at  Johnsburgh,  "  and  thus  Methodism  was  introduced  into  that 
town."  Subsequently  "  Thurman 's  Patent "  became  "  Thur- 
man Circuit,"  extending  through  ten  towns,  and  comprehend- 
ing all  the  Methodism  in  that  region ;  it  has,  still  later,  grown 
to  half  a  dozen  Circuits. 

Meanwhile  the  denomination  was  extending  its  lines  in  the 
interior  regions  of  the  Pennsylvania  mountain  valleys  and 
New  York  lakes.     In  the  spring  of  1797  Colbert  returned  to 


362  HISTOEY    OF    THE 

the  "Wyoming  Galley,  and  went  preaching  from  settlement  to 
settlement,  attended  "by  the  old  hardships  and  demonstrations 
of  his  ministry.  He  goes  to  Canandaigua,  Seneca  Lake,  etc., 
and  encounters  great  difficulties.  "  A  man,"  he  says,  "  needs 
to  have  a  good  constitution  and  a  large  stock  of  patience  to 
travel  this  Circuit.  May  the  Lord  bless  me  with  the  latter ! " 
He  is  sick  also  with  chills  and  fever,  the  effect  of  his  expo- 
sures, but  drives  on  in  his  work.  Numerous  Societies  are 
organized,  the  beginning  of  the  Methodism  that  now  flour- 
ishes in  all  the  region  like  its  rich  harvests.  The  Circuit 
extended  from  the  Skaneateles  to  the  Canandaigua  Lakes. 
Colbert  names  but  two  small  villages  upon  it,  Geneva  and 
Canandaigua,  and  in  neither  of  these  had  he  yet  permanent 
"  appointments." 

In  1798  he  was  again  on  "Wyoming  and  Northumberland 
Circuits.  The  Conference  rightly  judged  that  he  was  the  man 
for  the  mountains.  The  next  year  this  interior  field  was  re- 
arranged, the  northern  portion  being  connected  with  a  District 
that  comprehended  Albany  and  the  Mohawk  region,  under  the 
presiding  eldership  of  William  M'Lenahan.  There  were  three 
Circuits  :  Seneca,  with  Jonathan  Bateman  for  preacher ;  Tioga, 
with  John  Leach  and  David  Dunham ;  Wyoming  and  North- 
umberland, with  James  Moore,  Benjamin  Bidlack,  and  David 
Stevens.  These  evangelists  did  valiant  service ;  Bidlack  espe- 
cially was  a  noted  hero,  and  was  here  in  his  own  field.  He 
had  been  in  the  Revolutionary  army,  being  at  Boston  when 
Washington  took  command,  and  at  Yorktown  when  Cornwallis 
surrendered ;  had  been  noted  "for  fun  and  frolic,"  for  his  love 
of  strong  drink  and  "  good  fellowship,"  and  yet  had  a  singular 
reverence  for  religion.  He  would  attend  gravely  the  preach- 
ing of  the  early  evangelists,  however  drunk  he  might  be  at  the 
time.  "  He  sometimes  sung  with  great  gusto,  and  even  raised 
the  tune,  when  he  could  hardly  stand  without  holding  on  to 
something."  He  once  appeared  in  the  congregation  with  his 
usual  gravity,  but  with  a  bottle  of  rum  in  his  pocket,  its  long 
neck  visible  to  all  around.  Anthony  Turck,  a  Dutch  itinerant, 
fiery  with  zeal,  and  "  bold  as  a  lion,"  saw  him,  and  poured 
forth  a  terrible  denunciation  against  drunkenness.     The  con- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  363 

gregation  were  alarmed,  for  they  knew  Bidlack's  courage ;  but 
he  trembled  under  the  word,  and  "  instead  of  resenting  the  at- 
tack, went  home  stung  with  remorse."  He  publicly  confessed 
his  vices,  repented,  became  a  Methodist,  and,  before  long,  was 
traveling  with  the  itinerants,  one  of  their  most  flaming  fellow- 
laborers.  He  was  a  superior  singer,  an  important  advantage 
in  the  early  ministry,  and  a  preacher  of  acknowledged  talents. 
"  Bidlack  has  become  a  Methodist  preacher  rang  through  the 
country,  and  stirred  up  a  mighty  commotion."  He  was  a  gi- 
gantic man,  over  six  feet  high,  with  broad  shoulders  and  strong 
limbs.  He  became  at  last  the  venerated  "  Father  Bidlack," 
with  white  flowing  locks,  a  face  full  of  generous  character,  and 
universally  beloved  of  the  people.  He  died,  in  the  peace  of 
the  Gospel,  in  1843,  aged  eighty-seven  years. 

In  1800  Wyoming  and  Northumberland  were  attached  to 
the  Philadelphia  District,  under  the  presiding  eldership  of  the 
veteran  Joseph  Everett,  already  familiar  to  us ;  while  Oneida 
and  Cayuga,  Seneca  and  Tioga,  were  connected  with  the  Al- 
bany District.  Asa  Smith,  Bidlack,  and  Gruber  were  among 
the  evangelists.  "  The  word  of  God  mightily  grew  and  pre- 
vailed this  year  "  throughout  these  regions,  and  the  first  meet- 
ing-house in  Wilkesbarre  was  erected.  The  next  year  Owen 
was  back  again  in  this  his  old  territory,  where  he  had  labored 
for  about  ten  years.  The  evangelical  blacksmith  was  in  full 
strength,  and  kept  all  around  him  in  motion.  In  1800  the  great 
revivals,  prevailing  in  most  other  portions  of  the  Church,  swept 
over  all  this  section ;  the  societies  rapidly  enlarged,  and  nearly 
sixteen  hundred  members  were  reported  from  westward  of  the 
Albany  and  Saratoga  Circuits.  Powerful  itinerants  were  trav- 
ersing the  country  under  M'Lenahan — Turck,  Bidlack,  Morris, 
"Willy,  Newman,  Yredenburgh,  Gruber,  and  others ;  and  this 
year  the  first  Methodist  chapel  within  the  limits  of  the  Gene- 
see Conference  was  erected  at  Sauquoit. 

In  1802  Colbert  became  presiding  elder  of  the  Albany  Dis- 
trict, which  took  in  all  this  county.  His  stentorian  trumpet 
resounded  all  over  it.  The  famous  and  erratic  Lorenzo  Dow 
broke  into  the  region  and  worked  mightily  with  the  circuit 
evangelists.     "  He  is  tall,"  writes  Colbert,  "  of  a  very  slender 


864  HISTORY    OF   THE 

form ;  his  countenance  is  serene,  solemn,  but  not  dejected,  and 
his  words,  or  rather  God's  words  delivered  by  him,  cut  like  a 
sword."  Colbert  continued,  through  most  of  these  years,  to 
labor  indefatigably  in  founding  the  Church  throughout  the 
interior  parts  of  the  State  ;  he  returned,  in  1804,  to  Maryland, 
and  took  charge  of  the  Chesapeake  District.  In  this  year  we 
find  Methodism  well  organized  through  all  this  new  country, 
though  strangely  enough  divided  in  its  ecclesiastical  arrange- 
ment among  the  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore 
Conferences.  There  was  a  u  Genesee  District,"  and  we  see 
already  the  forthcoming  of  the  renowned  "  old  Genesee  Con- 
ference," and  the  mighty  Methodism  of  interior  and  western 
New  York.  It  is  even  now  preparing  to  move  westward  of 
the  Genesee  River,  where  David  Hamlin,  a  lay  Methodist  set- 
tler, is  (in  1804)  reading  Wesley's  sermons  on  Sundays  to  his 
neighbors  in  his  own  cabin,  and  waiting  and  watching  for  the 
coming  of  the  itinerants.  Of  several  of  the  stalwart  evange- 
lists who  founded  Methodism  in  these  wilds  I  have  already 
given  some  notices — of  Owen,  Mills,  Colbert,  Cook,  Ware, 
Gruber,  and  Bidlack ;  but  of  most  of  them  we  have  no  other 
information  than  the  vague  but  grateful  traditions  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  the  allusions  of  our  early  records.  Anthony  Turck 
was  a  rough  German,  who  labored  mightily  for  ten  years,  and 
died  in  the  itinerancy,  "  a  holy  man,"  say  the  old  Minutes ; 
"  indefatigable  and  successful ; "  James  Paynter,  a  good 
preacher,  a  man  of  few  words,  exceedingly  grave,  yet  as  ami- 
able, a  great  laborer,  from  these  valleys  to  the  valleys  of 
Western  Yirginia ;  after  preaching  forty-eight  years  he  died 
in  Maryland,  exclaiming,  "I  am  not  afraid  to  die  ; "  Alward 
White,  thirty-nine  years  in  the  ministry,  a  modest,  unassuming, 
but  acceptable  preacher  ;  Cornelius  Mars,  called  "  thundering 
Mars,"  for  his  manner  of  preaching  ;  John  Brodhead,  of  note 
in  New  England,  now  a  young  man  of  extraordinary  power  in 
the  pulpit ;  he  "  hurled  thunderbolts,"  says  one  of  our  author- 
ities ;  Eoger  Benton,  a  "  short,  thickset  man,  a  most  excellent 
preacher,"  singularly  "  modest  and  meek,"  with  a  stentorian 
voice ;  he  early  broke  down  under  his  labors  and  exposures, 
and  died  in  peace  ;  John  Leach,  "  a  pious,  circumspect  man," 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  365 

of  short  and  afflicted  ministry,  who  died  in  "  great  peace  "  in 
New  Jersey  in  1802;  James  Moore,  an  Irishman  of  very 
precise  manners,  of  shrewdness,  and  good  preaching  talents ; 
David  Stevens,  from  Baltimore,  who  "  labored  incessantly  for 
the  salvation  of  souls  for  thirty  years,  and,"  say  the  Minutes, 
"  died  full  of  faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost  "  in  Maryland,  1825  ; 
James  Polhamus,  who  spent  twenty-six  years  in  the  ministry, 
popular,  useful,  a  "  great  exhorter,"  his  "  appeals  overwhelm- 
ing," and  "  revivals  following  him  wherever  he  went ;"  James 
Smith,  called  "  Irish  Jemmy,"  a  "  good  preacher,  but  a  little 
queer  ;"  Morris  Howe;  "  a  great  exhorter,"  twenty-seven  years 
in  the  itinerancy,  and  spoken  of  as  a  very  pathetic  preacher ; 
Kobert  Burch,  brother  to  Thomas  Burch,  and  his  equal  in  the 
pulpit,  excessively  social,  and  abounding  in  Irish  wit  and  true 
piety ;  Jonathan  Newman,  a  great  laborer,  somewhat  eccen- 
tric and  vacillating,  but  honest  and  zealous,  with  a  heavy  voice, 
"capable  of  an  immense  compass  ;  when  he  was  fairly  under 
way  he  slightly  drew  one  corner  of  his  mouth  in  the  direction 
of  his  ear,  and  rolled  out  peal  after  peal,  like  the  roaring  of 
distant  thunder;"  Timothy  Dewy,  one  of  the  founders  of 
Methodism  in  New  England,  as  well  as  New  York,  eccentric, 
firm  to  obstinacy,  a  grappler  of  theological  problems,  a  great 
reader,  and,  it  is  said,  "  a  profound  thinker,"  often  a  tremen- 
dous preacher,  "  ardently  pious,  a  true-hearted  Methodist." 
These  are  but  a  portion  of  the  primitive  corps;  their  names 
are  still  precious  to  the  elder  Methodists  that  linger  in  the 
scenes  of  their  hard  toils.  They  were  soon  to  be  followed  by 
men  more  familiar  to  our  memory — Draper,  Lane,  Jewell, 
Ensign,  Tannest,  Puffer,  Paddock,  Bigelow,  Chamberlayne, 
Fillmore,  Lanning,  Seager,  Grant,  Harmon,  Mattison,  Luckey, 
Peck,  and  other  founders  of  the  vigorous  Conferences  that  now 
embody  so  much  of  the  Methodism  of  interior  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania. 

Canadian  Methodism  still  appertained  to  the  New  York 
Conference.  It  was  considered,  in  fact,  but  an  extension  of 
that  great  interior  field  which  we  have  just  been  surveying. 
Preachers  of  the  interior,  Draper,  Jewell,  and  others,  were 
laborers  beyond  the  line.     William  Case,  one  of  the  first  two 


366  HISTOEY    OF  THE 

presiding  elders  of  the  Genesee  Conference,  became  a  repre- 
sentative man  of  the  Provincial  Church,  and  for  some  time  the 
Upper  Province  was  an  important  portion  of  the  territory  of 
that  Conference.  We  have  traced  its  progress  down  to  the 
close  of  1796,  and  witnessed  the  labors  and  sufferings  of 
Losee,  Dunham,  Coleman,  Woolsey,  Keeler,  and  Coate.  In 
1797  the  Minutes  record  no  additional  laborers,  nor  indeed 
anything  respecting  its  appointments.  The  historians  of  the 
Church  assure  us  that  great  revivals  prevailed  among  the 
settlements,  chiefly  through  the  instrumentality  of  Wooster, 
whose  mighty  ministry  seemed  to  inflame  its  whole  people. 

In  1798  the  itinerant  band  consisted  of  Dunham,  Coate, 
Coleman,  and  Michael  Coate.  In  1799  the  Minutes  still  show 
three  Circuits,  but  eight  hundred  and  sixty-six  members. 
Michael  Coate  returns  to  the  States  ;  but  Joseph  Jewell  enters 
the  province,  and  takes  charge  of  it  as  presiding  elder.  He 
was  a  good  man,  says  one  of  our  Canadian  authorities,  cheer- 
ful, fond  of  singing,  and  had  the  finest  voice,  it  was  said,  that 
had  ever  been  heard  in  the  province.  He  went  to  Canada 
from  Maryland,  and  braved  its  wintry  storms  for  four  years. 
By  the  next  Conference  nearly  a  thousand  members  (936)  are 
enrolled.  Samuel  Coate  and  Coleman  retire  from  the  field,  the 
latter  after  six  years'  toil  in  it ;  but  he  goes  to  encounter  similar 
labors  in  Yermont.  Dunham  also  disappears  from  the  appoint- 
ments, but  settles  in  the  country  to  become  a  useful  local 
preacher.  Four  new  laborers  appear  now  on  the  roll :  Joseph 
Sawyer,  William  Anson,  James  Herron,  and  Daniel  Pickett. 
Sawyer  began  to  travel,  in  the  New  York  Conference,  in  1797; 
he  afterward  itinerated  in  Massachusetts  and  Yermont,  and, 
for  a  number  of  most  useful  years,  devoted  himself  to  this 
frontier  work.  He  had  led  Washburn  and  Laban  Clark  into 
the  Church,  and  was  to  find  in  the  wilderness  of  Upper  Canada 
Nathan  Bangs,  and  send  him  forth  on  his  long  and  memorable 
career  of  hardly  rivaled  services  to  American  Methodism. 
Thirteen  years  Sawyer  was  a  member  of  the  Conference,  four 
of  them  as  a  circuit  preacher,  four  as  presiding  elder  in  Canada, 
the  other  five  in  the  United  States.  He  was  a  holy  man,  full 
of  energy,  of  a  vigorous  mind,  and  great  success. 


WAir;o,M    ]BAK 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUECH.  367 

In  the  next  year  he  procured  the  erection  of  the  first 
Methodist  church  in  the  Niagara  country,  where  the  faithful 
layman,  Christian  Warner,  had  long  represented  Methodism 
and  entertained  its  preachers.  There  were  now  (1801)  1,159 
Methodists  in  the  province,  and  five  circuits,  supplied  by  ten 
preachers.  Samuel  Draper  had  come  from  the  interior  of 
New  York,  a  man  of  excessive  humor,  but  "in  many  places 
quite  successful."  Seth  dwell  had  come  from  New  En- 
gland; he  was  but  about  twenty  years  old,  but  of  heroic 
character.  Bangs  says :  "  He  was  a  young  preacher  of  great 
zeal,  and  of  the  most  indefatigable  industry."  Great  revivals 
now  prevailed,  and  as  a  consequence  the  returns  of  1802  show. 
more  than  fifteen  hundred  members,  a  gain  of  nearly  three 
hundred  and  fifty  in  one  year. 

The  important  name  of  Nathan  Bangs  is  now  recorded  on 
the  roll  of  Canadian  appointments.  He  was  not  only  a  public 
but  a  representative  man  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
for  more  than  half  a  century ;  during  nearly  sixty  years  he 
appeared  almost  constantly  in  its  pulpits ;  he  was  the  founder 
of  its  periodical  literature,  and  of  its  "  Conference  course  "  of 
ministerial  study,  and  one  of  the  founders  of  its  present  system 
of  educational  institutions ;  the  first  missionary  secretary  ap- 
pointed by  its  General  Conference,  the  first  clerical  editor  of 
its  General  Conference  newspaper  press,  the  first  editor  of  its 
Quarterly  Review,  and,  for  many  years,  the  chief  editor  of  its 
monthly  Magazine  and  its  book  publications ;  he  may  be  "pro- 
nounced the  principal  founder  of  the  American  literature  of 
Methodism,  a  literature  now  remarkable  for  its  extent,  and  of 
no  inconsiderable  intrinsic  value.  Besides  his  innumerable  mis- 
cellaneous writings  for  its  periodicals,  he  wrote  more  volumes 
in  defense  or  illustration  of  his  denomination  than  any  other 
man,  and  became  its  recognized  historian;  he  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  its  Missionary  Society,  wrote  the  Constitution  and 
first  Circular  Appeal  of  that  great  cause,  and  through  sixteen 
years,  prior  to  the  organization  of  its  secretaryship  as  a  salaried 
function,  he  labored  indefatigably  and  gratuitously  for  the 
society  as  its  vice-president,  secretary,  or  treasurer,  and  during 
more  than  twenty  years  wrote  all  its  annual  reports.    After  his 


368  HISTORY    OF    THE 

appointment  as  its  resident  secretary  lie  devoted  to  it  his  en- 
tire energies,  conducting  its  correspondence,  seeking  mis- 
sionaries for  it,  planning  its  mission  fields,  pleading  for  it  in 
the  Churches,  and  representing  it  in  the  Conferences ;  and  he 
was,  withal,  a  man  of  profound  piety,  of  universal  charity,  and 
much  and  admirable  individuality.  Few  men,  if  any,  have 
longer  or  more  successfully  labored  to  promote  those  great  in- 
terests of  the  denomination  which  have  given  it  consolidation 
and  permanence. 

Born  in  Connecticut,  he  had  emigrated  in  his  thirteenth 
year,  with  his  family,  to  Stamford,  N".  Y.,  and  thence,  in  his 
twenty-first  year,  as  a  school  teacher  and  surveyor,  to  the 
Niagara  region  of  Upper  Cannada.  He  found  a  friend  in 
Christian  Warner,  near  St.  Davids,  and  was  brought  under 
Methodist  influence. .  In  the  month  of  August,  1801,  about 
one  year  after  he  had  joined  the  Church,  and  three  months 
after  he  had  been  licensed  as  an  exhorter,  he  received  license 
to  preach,  and  immediately  departed  for  a  circuit  under  the 
control  of  Sawyer.  He  labored  from  Quebec  to  Detroit,  and 
received  a  thorough  preliminary  training  for  his  subsequent 
eminent  career  in  the  States. 

At  the  close  of  the  period  there  were  one  district,  seven 
circuits,  ten  preachers,  and  nearly  eighteen  hundred  (1,787) 
members  in  the  provincial  Church.  It  had  secured  a  per- 
manent lodgment  in  both  Canadas,  though  it  could  yet  claim 
but  little  more  than  a  hundred  communicants  in  the  lower 
province.  ■  Since  our  last  notice  of  it,  (in  1796,)  it  had  ad- 
vanced from  seven  hundred  and  ninety-five  to  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  eighty-seven  members,  gaining  nearly  a 
thousand,  while  its  ministry  had  more  than  doubled.  The 
period  closed  with  the  death  of  Barbara  Heck,  whose  humble 
name  will  become  increasingly  illustrious  with  the  lapse  of 
ages,  as  associated  with  the  founding  of  American  Methodism 
in  both  the  United  States  and  British  North  America.  She 
died  at  the  residence  of  her  son,  Samuel  Heck,  in  "  front  of 
Augusta,"  U.  C,  in  1804,  aged  seventy  years.  Her  death 
was  befitting  her  life.  Her  old  German  Bible,  the  guide  of 
her  youth  in  Ireland,  her  resource  during  the  falling  away  of 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  369 

her  people  in  New  York,  her  inseparable  companion  in  all  her 
wanderings  in  the  wildernesses  of  Northern  New  York  and 
Canada,  was  her  oracle  and  comfort  to  the  last.  She  was 
found  sitting  in  her  chair  dead,  with  the  well-used  and  en- 
deared volume  open  on  her  lap.  And  thus  passed  away  this 
devoted  and  unpretentious  woman,  who  so  faithfully,  yet  un- 
consciously, laid  the  foundations  of  one  of  the  grandest'  ecclesi- 
astical structures  of  modern  ages,  and  whose  memory  will  prob- 
ably last  as  "long  as  the  sun  and  moon  endure."  The  few 
Methodists  of  Canada  who  in  1804  bore  her  to  her  grave  in 
the  old  Blue  Churchyard,  Augusta,  might  well  have  exclaimed, 
"  What  hath  God  wrought !  "  The  cause  which  she  had  been 
instrumental  in  founding  had  already  spread  out  from  New 
York  city  over  the  whole  of  the  United  States,  and  over  much 
of  both  Canadas.  It  comprised  seven  Annual  Conferences,  four 
hundred  traveling  preachers,  and  more  than  one  hundred  and 
four  thousand'  members.  But  if  we  estimate  its  results  in  our 
day,  we  shall  see  that  it  has  pleased  God  to  encircle  the  name 
of  this  lowly  woman  with  a  halo  of  surpassing  honor,  for 
American  Methodism  has  far  transcended  all  other  divisions 
of  the  Methodistic  movement,  and  may  yet  make  her  name  an 
endeared  household  word  throughout  the  world. 

24 


370  HISTORY    OF   THE 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

METHODISM  IN  THE  EASTERN  STATES:    1796-1804. 

"We  have  traced  the  progress  of  Methodism  in  the  Eastern 
States  down  to  the  Thompson  (Conn.)  Conference,  held  in 
September,  1796.  Important  laborers  were  now  added  to  the 
small  band  of  itinerants.  John  Brodhead's  name,  which  we 
have  incidentally  met  already,  is  endeared  to  the  New  England 
Church.  He  spent  forty-four  years  in  the  ministry,  forty-two 
of  them  in  the  East,  laboring  more  or  less  in  all  the  New 
England  States.  He  was  repeatedly  elected  to  the  Senate  of 
New  Hampshire  and  to  Congress,  yet  was  always  personally 
averse  to  taking  office;  and  though  he  spoke  but  seldom  on 
political  subjects,  the  soundness  of  his  judgment,  and  the 
known  purity  of  his  life,  gave  much  weight  to  his  opinions. 
In  the  early  days  of  his  ministry  he  endured  almost  incredible 
fatigue  and  hardship  in  carrying  the  glad  tidings  of  the  Gospel 
to  remote  settlements,  often  swimming  rivers  on  horseback, 
and  preaching  in  his  clothes  saturated  with  water,  till  he 
broke  down  a  naturally  robust  constitution  and  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  disease,  which  affected  him  more  or  less  during  his 
after  life.  As  a  preacher,  he  possessed  more  than  ordinary 
talents;  his  clear  understanding,  combined  with  quick  sensi- 
bilities and  a  vivid  imagination,  could  not  but  render  him 
eloquent  on  the  themes  of  religion.  He  was  partial  to  the 
benigner  topics  of  the  Gospel,  and  often  would  his  congrega- 
tions and  himself  melt  into  tears  under  the  inspiration  of  his 
subjects.  When  he  treated  on  the  divine  denunciations  of  sin, 
it  was  with  a  solemnity,  and  at  times  with  an  awful  grandeur, 
that  overwhelmed  his  hearers.  He  was  six  feet  in  stature, 
with  an  erect  and  firmly-built  frame.  Though  slight  in  person 
when  young,  in  his  maturer  years  he  became  robustly  stout, 
and  toward  the  end  of  his  life  somewhat  corpulent,  but  re- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  371 

tained  to  the  last  the  dignified  uprightness  of  his  mein.  His 
complexion  was  light,  his  features  well  defined,  his  forehead 
high  and  expanded,  his  eye  dark,  large,  and  glowing  with  the 
spontaneous  benevolence  of  his  spirit.  In  fine,  his  tout  ensemble 
rendered  him  one  of  the  noblest  men  in  person,  as  he  unques- 
tionably was  in  character. 

Timothy  Merritt  was  "  a  prince  and  a  great  man  in  Israel." 
His  judgment  was  remarkably  clear  and  discriminating,  grasp- 
ing the  subjects  of  its  investigation  in  all  their  compass,  and 
penetrating  to  their  depths.     He  lacked  fancy  and  imagina- 
tion, but  was  thereby,  perhaps,  the  better  fitted  for  his  favorite 
courses  of  thought — the  investigation  and  discussion  of  the 
great  doctrinal  truths  of  religion.     His  predilection  for  such 
subjects  was  not  a  curious  propensity  to  speculation,  but  an 
interest  to  ascertain  and  demonstrate  the  relations  of  funda- 
mental tenets  to  experimental  and  practical  piety.     This  was 
the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  his  preaching.     Like  St. 
Paul,  he  delighted  to  discuss  the  "  mystery  of  godliness,"  and 
illustrate  its  "  greatness."    Dangerous  error  shrunk  in  his  pres- 
ence.    The  doctrine  of  Christian  perfection  was  his  favorite 
theme,  and  he  was  a  living  example  of  it.     ' :  Holiness  to  the 
Lord  was  his  constant  motto,"  says  his  friend,  Enoch  Mudge. 
"  When  his  physical  energy  gave  way,  his  active  mind  felt  the 
shock  and  totterings  of  the  earthly  tabernacle.     This  was  the 
time  for  the  more  beautiful  development  of  Christian  resigna- 
tion and  submission.     A  calm  submission  spread  a.  sacred  halo 
over  the  closing  scenes  of  life.     Even  here  we  had  a  chastened 
and  melancholy  pleasure  in  noticing  the  superiority  of  the 
mental  and  spiritual  energies,  which  occasionally  gleamed  out 
over  his  physical  imbecility  and  prostration.     We  saw  a  noble 
temple  in  ruins,  but  the  divine  Shekinah  had  not  forsaken  it." 
He  did  extraordinary  service  for  Methodism.     His  preaching 
and  devout  life  promoted  it;  he  was  continually  writing  for 
it,  and  some  of  his  publications  ranked  high  in  its  early  litera- 
ture ;  he  was  a  champion  in  its  antislavery  contests,  and  was 
active  in  its  efforts  for  missions  and  education.    No  man  of  his 
day  had  more  prominence  in  the  Eastern  Churches  for  either 
the  excellence  of  his  life  or  the  importance  of  his  services. 


372  HISTORY   OF    TIIE 

After  his  visit  to  Virginia,  Lee  resumed  his  labors  in  the 
East  at  the  beginning  of  1797.  His  District  comprised  the 
whole  Methodist  field  in  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont, 
Rhode  Island,  and  Massachusetts,  except  two  western  Cir- 
cuits in  the  latter;  Ostrander,  Pickering,  Brodhead,  Mudge, 
Snethen,  and  other  strong  men  were  under  his  guidance.  He 
traversed  his  immense  district  with  his  usual  rapidity,  pro- 
claiming the  word,  encouraging  the  preachers  in  the  priva- 
tions and  toils  of  the  remoter  circuits,  comforting  feeble 
Churches,  and  inspiriting  them  to  struggle  with  persecutions 
and  poverty,  to  erect  chapels,  and  spread  themselves  out  into 
adjacent  neighborhoods. 

About  September,  1797,  Asbury  sick  and  worn  out  with 
labors,  was  pursuing  his  way  toward  the  East,  to  attend  the 
New  England  Conference,  which  was  to  sit  at  Wilbraham  on 
the  19th  of  that  month;  but  on  arriving  at  New  Rochelle, 
N.  Y.,  he  was  unable  to  go  farther.  He  was  "  swelling  in  the 
face,  bowels,  and  feet,"  and  only  after  two  weeks  could  he 
place  his  foot  on  the  ground.  On  September  12th,  when  he 
was  able  to  walk  but  once  or  twice  across  the  room,  he  wrote 
a  letter  to  Lee,  instructing  him  to  preside  at  the  Wilbraham 
Conference,  believing  it  would  be  impossible  for  himself  to 
reach  it.  Though  depressed  with  disease  and  exhaustion,  his 
heart  glowed  with  the  idea  of  the  great  cause  for  which  he 
labored.  u  Methodism,"  he  exclaims  in  his  letter,  "  is  union 
all  over :  union  in  exchange  of  preachers ;  union  in  exchange 
of  sentiments ;  union  in  exchange  of  interest :  we  must  draw 
resources  from  the  center  to  the  circumference."  Notwith- 
standing the  arrangement  made  with  Lee,  the  tireless  bishop 
was  on  his  route  for  Wilbraham  the  day  after  the  date  of  his 
letter,  but  was  unable  to  proceed,  and  returned  to  his  comfort- 
able lodgings  at  New  Rochelle,  where  he  went  to  bed  with 
a  high  fever.  He  was  disabled  for  several  weeks,  and  "  dis- 
tressed at  the  thought  of  a  useless  and  idle  life.-"  "  Lord  help 
me,"  he  exclaims,  "  for  I  am  poor  and  needy ;  the  hand  of 
God  hath  touched  me."  Lee  proceeded  to  take  his  place  at 
the  Conference. 

The  labors  of  the  year  had  been  successful ;  extensive  reviv- 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  373 

als  had  occurred  on  several  of  the  Circuits.  There  was  a  gain 
of  three  Circuits.  The  returns  of  members  amounted  to  3,000, 
lacking  one,  showing  an  increase  of  480 — about  one  fourth  of 
the  gains  of  the  whole  Church  for  this  year.  Both  the  aggre- 
gate and  the  increase  were  doubtless  larger,  for  there  are  no 
returns  from  Vermont,  though  a  long  Circuit  had  been  formed 
within  that  State,  and  one  of  the  New  York  Circuits,  also, 
reached  into  it  and  included  several  incipient  Societies. 

On  the  19th  of  September,  1797,  the  New  England  Confer- 
ence convened,  a  second  time,  in  Wilbraham,  Mass.  Lee  pre- 
sided, and  made  the  appointments  for  the  ensuing  year.  Five 
of  the  preachers  located  this  year,  broken  down  in  health,  or 
tired  of  the  severities  of  an  itinerant  life ;  but  able  men,  Shad- 
rach  Bostwick,  Michael  Coate,  Peter  Jayne,  William  Thacher, 
and  others,  took  their  places.  Immediately  after  the  Wilbra- 
ham Conference,  Lee,  agreeably  to  the  vote  of  that  body  and 
the  request  of  Asbury,  hastened  to  New  Kochelle,  N.  Y.,  where 
the  bishop  was  awaiting  him.  Thence  they  journeyed  south- 
ward, as  we  have  seen,  through  all  the  Atlantic  States  as  far  as 
Georgia.  Lee  returned  to  New  York,  laboring  night  and  day 
on  the  way,  and  on  the  9th  of  July,  1798,  left  that  city  again 
for  New  England.  On  his  route,  Asbury  and  Joshua  Wells 
overtook  him.  They  pressed  forward,  holding  meetings  almost 
daily,  through  Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts  into  the  heart 
of  Maine.  At  Readfield  they  proposed  to  hold  the  first  Con- 
ference in  the  province.  The  ecclesiastical  year  1797-8  had 
been  the  most  prosperous  one  recorded  thus  far  in  the  history 
of  Eastern  Methodism.  Extensive  revivals  had  prevailed,  and 
the  struggling  cause  had  everywhere  advanced,  augmenting  its 
membership  by  more  than  one  third.  Many  new  Societies  had 
been  organized  in  all  the  New  England  States,  several  chapels 
erected,  and  a  large  band  of  local  preachers  formed  and  brought 
into  effective  co-operation  with  the  traveling  ministry.  The 
plans,  which  had  hitherto  been  incipient,  now  began  to  develop 
their  power  and  results.  There  was  a  growing  consciousness 
of  stability  and  vigor  in  the  new  communion,  of  no  small  im- 
portance to  its  efficiency ;  and  the  doctrines  of  Methodism — so 
liberal  and  yet  so  vital — began  to  be  more  generally  approved, 


374  HISTORY   OF    THE 

except  by  those  who  were  officially  interested  in  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  theology  which  had  hitherto  prevailed.  The  re- 
turns of  members  amounted  to  4,155,  a  gain  of  1,216.  Con- 
necticut had  1,455;  Khode  Island,  162;  Massachusetts,  1,194; 
Maine,  936 ;  New  Hampshire,  122 ;  Yermont,  286.  Connecti- 
cut had  gained  254;  Rhode  Island  had  lost  15;  Massachusetts 
had  gained  281 ;  Maine,  320  ;  New  Hampshire,  30  ;  Vermont, 
(which  had  made  no  previous  returns,)  286.  The  aggregate 
increase  in  New  England  this  year  was  more  than  three  times 
as  great  as  that  of  all  the  rest  of  the  Church  throughout  the 
republic  and  Canada.  The  local  preachers  scattered  among 
the  Societies  amounted  about  this  time  to  twenty-five  at  least. 
With  such  results  the  laborious  itinerants  gathered,  with  grate- 
ful hearts  and  good  courage,  at  their  Conferences  at  Readfield 
and  Granville,  in  order  to  plan  the  work  of  another  year. 

The  former  is  memorable  as  the  first  Methodist  Conference 
held  in  Maine.  It  began  the  29th  of  August,  and  was  an  oc- 
casion of  no  ordinary  interest.  Methodism,  though  recent  in 
the  province,  had  taken  profound  hold  on  the  sympathies  of 
the  settlers,  and  hundreds  flocked  to  the  small  village  of  Read- 
field  to  witness  the  first  assembly  of  its  pioneers  in  their  new 
and  wilderness  country.  The  place  was  thronged  with  the 
devout,  who  came  to  enjoy  the  spiritual  advantages  of  the  oc- 
casion, and  the  worldly,  who  were  there  to  reap  gain  from  it. 
"Several  came,"  says  Lee,  "in  their  carts,  with  cakes,  etc.,  to 
sell.  No  one  interrupted  us  in  the  meeting-house,  but  many 
were  walking  to  and  fro,  and  paid  no  attention  to  the  meet- 
ings." The  session  lasted  two  days,  "Wednesday  and  Thurs- 
day. Ten  preachers  were  present :  Timothy  Merritt,  John 
Brodhead,  Robert  Yalleley,  Aaron  Humphrey,  Roger  Searle, 
Joshua  Taylor,  Jesse  Stoneman,  Enoch  Mudge,  and  John  Fin- 
negan ;  Asbury  made  the  tenth.  Wednesday  was  a  "  great 
day,"  says  Asbury.  The  Conference  began  its  usual  business 
very  early,  and  closed  it  by  eight  o'clock  A.  M.,  in  order  that 
the  rest  of  the  time  might  be  devoted  to  public  exercises.  An 
immense  throng  had  gathered  in  the  village.  At  nine  o'clock 
the  doors  of  the  new  and  yet  unfinished  chapel  (the  first  erect- 
ed in  Maine)  were  thrown  open  for  the  "large  number  of 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  375 

Methodists,  and  none  else."  Shut  in  from  the  throng,  they 
held  a  love-feast  together.  Eepresentatives  of  their  common 
cause  were  there  from  all  the  surrounding  regions,  and  from 
several  distant  places.  "It  was  a  good  time,"  says  Lee; 
"they  spoke  freely  and  feelingly"  of  their  Christian  ex- 
perience, and  renewed  their  vows  with  God  and  each  other. 
The  multitude  without  heard  their  fervent  ejaculations  and 
exhilarating  melodies,  and  waited  impatiently  for  the  public 
services. 

At  eleven  o'clock  the  doors  were  opened.  From  "  one  thou- 
sand to  eighteen  hundred  souls,"  says  Asbury,  attempted  to 
get  into  the  building;  it  was  a  solid  mass  of  human  beings. 
The  galleries,  which  were  yet  unfinished,  cracked  and  broke 
under  the  pressure,  producing  much  alarm,  and  slightly  injur- 
ing a  few ;  but  the  services  proceeded.  Asbury  ascended  the 
rude  pulpit  and  addressed  his  itinerant  brethren  from  2  Cor. 
iv,  1,  2 :  "  Therefore,  seeing  we  have  this  ministry,  as  we  have 
received  mercy,  we  faint  not,"  etc.  Well  could  their  great 
leader,  bearing  in  his  own  person  the  marks  of  his  excessive 
labors,  exhort  the  pioneers  of  Methodism  in  Maine  to  "  faint 
not "  in  their  extraordinary  privations  and  toils.  They  gath- 
ered strength  from  the  veteran's  words,  and  welcomed  the 
daily  journeys,  the  incessant  preaching,  the  wintry  storms, 
and  the  spiritual  victories  of  another  year.  Lee  tells  us  that 
the  bishop  waxed  "  strong  and  courageous."  The  ordination 
services  followed,  and  were  witnessed  with  great  interest  by 
the  throng. 

The  ordination  being  over,  Lee,  whose  heart  was  full, 
mounted  the  pulpit,  and  proclaimed  to  the  multitude  of 
Methodists  present,  "The  God  of  peace  shall  bruise  Satan 
under  your  feet  shortly."  Rom.  xvi,  20.  A  divine  influence 
fell  upon  the  assembly ;  tears  flowed  in  all  parts  of  the  house. 
He  could  not  but  feel  profoundly  under  the  associations  of 
the  scene  ;  only  five  years  before  he  wandered  a  solitary  evan- 
gelist through  the  province,  without  a  single  Methodist  to  wel- 
come him ;  now  multitudes  of  them  were  rising  up  over  its 
length  and  breadth,  and  spreading  into  bands,  and  these  were 
but  the  beginnings  of  a  great  work,  which  he  unwaveringly 


376  HISTORY   OF   TIIE 

believed  would  go  on  prosperously  through  all  time.  There 
was  still  another  exercise  before  they  dispersed.  They  partook 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  together.  It  was,  Lee  tells  us,  "  a  most 
solemn  time.  I  stood  astonished,"  he  exclaims,  "  at  the  sight  I 
to  see  so  many  people  at  the  Lord's  table,  when  it  is  not  quite 
five  years  since  we  came  into  this  part  of  the  world." 

Thus  closed  the  first  Conference  in  Maine.  The  preachers 
immediately  hastened  to  their  appointments.  Asbury  was 
away  the  same  day.  Lee  tarried  to  complete  some  unfinished 
business,  "thankful  to  God  for  the  privilege  of  being  at  the 
first  Conference  ever  held  in  the  province." 

The  Conference  at  Granville  began  on  Wednesday,  Septem- 
ber 19,  1798,  three  weeks  after  the  session  at  Eeadfield.  It 
was  the  largest  assemblage  of  Methodist  preachers  which  had 
ever  been  convened  in  JSTew  England,  about  fifty  being  pres- 
ent, many  of  them  from  the  neighboring  Circuits  of  New  York. 
Ten  new  preachers  were  received  at  this  session.  "  Praise  the 
Lord,  O  my  soul ! "  exclaims  Lee  as  he  records  the  fact. 
Among  these  young  men  were  Epaphras  Kibby ,  Daniel  Webb, 
Asa  Heath,  and  also  those  two  remarkable  men,  so  generally 
known  alike  for  their  great  labors  and  great  eccentricities, 
Billy  Hibbard  and  Lorenzo  Dow,  the  latter  after  no  little 
opposition,  as  we  have  seen.  Twelve  were  ordained.  The 
public  services  were  impressive  ;  Lee  speaks  of  "  a  blessed  time 
in  preaching,"  when  preachers  and  people  were  melted  into 
tears.  The  Conference  closed  on  Friday,  21 ;  the  next  day 
Asbury  and  Lee  "  began  their  flight,"  as  the  latter  calls  it. 
They  were  accompanied  by  twelve  of  the  preachers,  who  had 
been  designated  to  the  neighboring  Circuits  ofNew  York.  By 
Sunday  afternoon  they  had  crossed  the  boundary,  and  the 
bishop  was  preaching  the  same  evening  at  Dover. 

Daniel  Webb  became  the  oldest  effective  Methodist  preacher, 
in  the  world*.  He  early  heard  Mudge,  Pickering,  Bostwick, 
and  Merritt,  and  often  had  serious  reflections.  At  length,  he 
writes,  "  A  young  woman,  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  came  to  my  father's  house  to  work  as  a  tailor- 
ess.  She  was  faithful  to  her  Lord,  and  religion  was  the  theme 
of  her  conversation.     Having  an  opportunity   one  day,   she 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  377 

said  to  me,  i  My  young  friend,  what  do  you  think  of  religion  ? ' 
I  replied,  '  I  think  it  to  be  a  good  and  a  necessary  thing  for 
all  persons  before  they  die.'  '  Then,'  said  she,  l  what  objec- 
tion have  you  to  seeking  it  now  ? '  '  If  I  could  have  my 
young  companions  with  me  I  should  be  willing  to  seek  it 
now,'  I  replied.  She  then  said,  '  My  dear  friend,  do  not  wait 
for  your  companions ;  you  may  perhaps  be  in  your  grave  be- 
fore they  will  turn  to  the  Lord.'  These  words  were  as  a  nail 
in  a  sure  place.  They  arrested  my  attention.  I  was  led  to 
cry  the  more  for  mercy;  and  in  about  four  weeks  from  the 
time  of  her  faithfulness"  to  me,  in  a  little  prayer-meeting,  the 
Lord  spoke  peace  to  my  soul ;  and  the  next  day,  in  a  woods,  he 
gave  me  a  sealing  evidence  of  my  acceptance  with"  him,  and  I 
went  on  my  way  rejoicing.  This  was  in  the  year  1797,  and  in 
the  month  of  August." 

In  less  than  a  year  he  was  "  exhorting  "  on  the  Circuit. 
Bostwick  called  him  out  to  Middletown  Circuit,  (Conn.,)  and 
there  he  preached  his  first  sermon.  In  1798,  received  by' the 
Conference,  he  was  appointed  to  Granville  Circuit,  which  was 
then  two  hundred  miles  in  circumference.  "We  had,"  he 
writes,  "  to  cross  the  Green  Mountains  twice  in  each  round. 
I  frequently  had  to  dismount  my  horse,  and  break,  through 
the  snowbanks  to  get  him  along.  We  preached  almost  every 
day,  besides  visiting,  and  attending  prayer  and  class  meetings, 
so  that  our  labors  were  very  considerable."  His  subsequent 
appointments  were  in  various  parts  of  Massachusetts,  Maine,, 
and  Ehode  Island,  and  he  lived,  beloved  and  venerated  for  his 
unblemished  character  and  long  services,  down  to  1867,  when 
he  died  in  the  full  assurance  of  hope.  He  was  noted  for  the 
brevity,  perspicuity,  systematic  arrangement,  and  evangelical 
richness  of  his  discourses,  his  unpretending  but  cordial  man- 
ners, and  his  steadfast  interest  for  his  Church. 

Epaphras  Kibby  survived  down  to  our  day,  one  of  the  patri- 
archs of  the  New  England  itinerants.  He  was  converted 
under  the  ministry  of  George  Koberts.  "  One  sermon,"  he 
writes,  "  from  this  powerful,  eloquent  man  wTas  all-sufficient, 
under  the  Divine  Spirit,  to  rouse  my  guilty  soul,  and  to  extort 
the  cry,  <  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved? ' "     This  was  in  1793, 


378  HISTORY    OF    THE 

and  in  the  sixteenth  year  of  his  age.  In  1798  he  was  pressed 
into  the  itinerant  service  at  the  Granville  Conference,  though 
he  had  never  attempted  to  preach  a  sermon,  but  had  only 
"  exhorted."  "  Go,  my  son,"  said  Asbury  to  him,  "  and  God 
be  with  you.  Do  the  best  you  can  ;  an  angel  cannot  do  bet- 
ter." His  first  appointment  was  on  Sandwich  Circuit,  Mass., 
and  thus  began  one  of  the  longest  ministerial  careers  in  our 
annals.  He  traveled  in  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  New 
Hampshire,  and  Maine.  He  formed  the  first  Methodist  socie- 
ty in  ]STew  Bedford,  Mass.,  and  also  in  Hallowell,  Me.,  and 
occupied,  with  distinction,  the  stations  of  Boston,  Portland, 
and  New  Bedford.  He  suffered  the  early  hardships  of  the 
Maine  Circuits  courageously,  and  helped  effectually  to  lay  the 
foundations  of  Methodism  through  much  of  that  country  at 
the  beginning  of  the  century.  When  appointed  there  in  1800, 
it  seemed  a  distant  and  appalling  field  to  him ;  but  he  was 
accompanied  and  cheered  on  his  way  by  a  convoy  of  brave- 
spirited  itinerants,  Merritt,  Heath,  Webb,  and  others,  all 
bound  to  eastern  circuits.  When  he  arrived  he  found  a  vast 
sphere  of  labor  before  him  on  Eeadfield  Circuit.  He  preached 
and  traveled  every  day,  except  one  Saturday  in  each  month. 
Frequently  he  was  obliged  to  cross  frozen  streams  when  the 
ice  would  not  bear  his  horse ;  but  while  he  himself  walked 
upon  "it,  the  latter,  led  by  his  hand,  had  to  break  a  way, 
cutting  himself  with  ice,  and  coming  forth  exhausted  and 
bloody  from  the  struggle.  In  other  seasons  these  streams  had 
to  be  forded  or  swam,  often  at  the  risk  of  life.  In  those  re- 
mote regions  he  usually  slept  in  log-cabins,  through  the  roofs 
of  which  the  stars  shone  upon  his  slumbers  and  the  snow  fell 
upon  his  bed,  forming  a  cover  by  morning  several  inches  thick. 
Again  his  spirit  sunk  within  him.  Such  exposures  and  labors 
seemed  impracticable  ;  he  felt  that  he  must  retreat,  but  God 
interposed  for  him.  When  about  to  give  up  in  despair,  a 
marvelous  revival  broke  out  in  the  Circuit ;  he  took  fresh  cour- 
age and  went  on  his  way  rejoicing. 

This  event  was  of  too  remarkable  a  character  to  be  omitted 
here.  While  doubting  and  praying,  respecting  his  duty  to  re- 
main any  longer,  a  young  gentleman  of  Monmouth,  of  high 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  379 

position  in  society,  heard  him  accidentally  at  a  neighboring 
village,  and  on  returning  home  reported  among  his  neighbors 
an  exalted  opinion  of  the  young  preacher's  talents  and  char- 
acter, and  particularly  urged  his  own  wife  to  go  and  hear  him 
when  he  should  arrive  in  their  town.  He  himself  made  no 
pretensions  to  piety ;  his  lady  had  been  deeply  serious  some 
time  before,  but  had  apparently  lost  her  religious  convictions. 
Kibby  went  to  Monmouth  to  preach  in  the  Congregational 
Church.  As  he  sat  in  the  desk  waiting,  a  divine  afflatus 
seemed  to  descend  on  him  and  the  gathering  people.  He  has 
been  heard  to  say  that  he  never  before  nor  since  witnessed  a 
more  direct  and  remarkable  agency  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  A 
well-dressed  lady  arrived,  and  took  a  seat,  tremblingly,  near 
the  door,  but  where  the  whole  assembly  saw  her.  Without  an 
audible  expression  her  countenance  and  demeanor  exhibited 
unutterable  feeling,  and'  the  whole  audience  soon  seemed  to 
share  it  The  preacher  proceeded  with  his  discourse  with 
unusual  interest  and  solemnity.  As  he  advanced,  exhibiting 
the  mercy  of  God,  the  feeling  of  awe  which  had  hitherto  ab- 
sorbed the  assembly  seemed  to  change,  a  glad  and  grateful 
emotion  sped  through  the  mass,  a  bright  and  glowing  expres- 
sion shone  on  their  faces  ;  and  the  lady,  with  streaming  tears 
and  overflowing  heart,  found  peace  with  God,  and  seemed 
transfigured  before  them.  When  they  rose  to .  sing,  she  fell 
insensible  under  her  intense  feelings ;  her  husband,  near  her, 
was  smitten  down,  and  dropped  upon  his  seat ;  the  presence 
of  God  seemed  to  overshadow  the  place,  and  the  assembly  was 
overwhelmed.  The  lady  herself  became  a  devoted  member 
of  the  Church ;  her  husband,  General  M'Clellan,  was  the  man 
who  invited  Kibby.  He  subsequently  was  converted,  and 
their  family  was  long  known  on  the  Kennebec  for  its  affluent 
and  Christian  hospitality,  and  its  devotion  to  the  interests  of 
Methodism.  It  afterward  became  the  germ  of  the  Methodist 
Church  in  Bath.  The  influence  of  this  remarkable  meeting 
spread  like  a  flame  through  the  town  and  neighboring  villages, 
and,  indeed,  more  or  less  over  the  Circuit.  The  sinking  heart 
of  the  preacher  was  fortified  forever. 

These  scenes  at  Monmouth  led  to  the  introduction  of  Meth- 


380  EISTOKY    OF    TIIE 

odisrn  into  Hallowell.  A  young  man  at  the  former,  but 
belonging  to  the  latter,  entreated  Kibby  to  visit  tbe  town  and 
preach  to  its  inhabitants.  He  consented,  passed  into  the  vil- 
lage, procured  a  school-house,  and  had  a  large  congregation  ; 
but'  at  the  end  of  the  service  his  hearers  all  retired,  leaving 
him  alone  without  an  invitation  to  any  of  their  homes,  or  an 
iutimation  of  their  approval  or  disapproval  of  his  doctrines. 
He  felt  disappointed,  mortified,  and  mounting  his  horse  rode 
four  miles  to  Augusta  for  a  supper,  believing  that  he  had  erred 
in  going  to  Hallowell.  On  arriving  at  Augusta,  some  gentle- 
men of  high  respectability,  who  admired  his  talents,  appointed 
a  meeting  for  him  in  a  hall.  When  he  entered  it  he  found  an 
apparently  selected  audience.  After  the  sermon  one  of  the 
hearers  rose  and  said,  "  I  approve  these  doctrines  and  esteem 
this  man ; "  and  throwing  a  dollar  on  the  table  he  added> 
"you,  gentleman,  may  do  likewise."*  A  shower  of  silver  dol- 
lars came  down  upon  the  table ;  the  preacher  refused  them, 
but  he  was  urged  and  compelled  to  receive  them.  It  was  no 
superfluous  bounty,  but  a  most  opportune  providence,  meeting 
necessities  which  could  hardly  have  otherwise  been  sustained. 
But  a  more  cheering  incident  followed.  Before  he  left  the 
hall  he  was  compensated,  somewhat,  for  his  mortifying  treat- 
ment at  Hallowell.  A  man,  trembling  with  emotion,  took 
him  by  the  hand  and  inquired,  "  When,  sir,  are  you  coming 
again  to  Hallowell?"  "Never,  sir,"  replied  the  preacher. 
"  Do.,  do  come  once  more,"  rejoined  the  stranger,  with  tears, 
"  for  your  discourse  there  to-day  has  awakened  my  guilty 
soul."    Unexpected  results  of  one  day  ! 

Kibby  saw  the  hand  of  God  in  these  things.  He  sent  back 
by  the  stranger  an  appointment  at  Hallowell  for  four  weeks 
afterward,  the  time  of  his  next  return  to  .that  part  of  the  Cir- 
cuit. When  he  arrived  he  found  that  the  awakened  man  had 
been  converted.  The  house  was  crowded,  and  he  was  embar- 
rassed with  invitations  to  hospitable  homes;  he  tarried  the 
next  day,  and  spent  it  in  visiting  from  house  to  house,  and 
nearly  every  family  he  called  upon  he  found  under  the 
awakening  influence  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  A  revival  broke 
out  which  spread  through  the  whole  population,  and  the  first 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  381 

Methodist  Society  of  Hallowell  was  formed.  The  two  first 
persons,  a  man  and  his  wife,  converted  in  this  extraordinary 
reformation,  presented  their  two  sons  to  him  for  baptism. 
They  were  twins,  and  scarcely  distinguishable.  He  offered 
them  specially  to  God  in  prayer  by  that  holy  rite.  One  of 
them  now  sleeps  in  his  grave  in  Africa,  the  first  foreign  mis- 
sionary of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The  other  be- 
came a  preacher  of  Methodism  in  ISTew  England. 

In  1841  he  was  reported  among  the  "  superannuated  "  in  the 
New  England  Conference,  and  remained  on  that  honored  roll 
till  his  death  in  1865,  when  he  departed,  exclaiming,  "  Glory 
to  God !  glory  to  God ! "  after  a  ministry  of  sixty-seven  years. 
He  was  tall,  erect,  and  slight  in  person,  extremely  neat  in 
dress,  and  venerable  in  appearance.  His  talents  were  of  a 
very  superior  order.  His  imagination  furnished  him  with 
vivid  illustrations,  always  abundant,  chaste,  and  appropriate ; 
his  reasoning  was  strikingly  perspicuous,  direct,  and  con-' 
elusive ;  his  language  remarkable  for  both  elegance  and  force. 

Joshua  Soule,  though  not  named  in  the  Minutes  till  the  next 
year,  began  to  travel  about  this  time,  under  the  presiding  elder 
of  Maine  District.  About  1795  his  family  removed  to  Avon, 
then  a  recent  settlement  on  Sandy  River ;  the  Readfield  Cir- 
cuit extended  to  this  remote  frontier,  and  Enoch  Mudge  and 
other  traveling  evangelists  occasionally  penetrated  to  it,  sound- 
ing the  word  of  life  among  its  sparse  habitations.  "  The  settle- 
ment," says  Mudge,  "was  new,  and  his  father's  house  un- 
finished. Joshua  had  a  precocious  mind,  a  strong  memory,  a 
manly  and  dignified  turn,  although  his  appearance  was  exceed- 
ingly rustic."  Youthful  and  untutored  as  he  was,  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Gospel,  as  exhibited  by  the  preachers  of  Method- 
ism, arrested  his  attention,  and  commended  themselves  to  his 
opening  intellect.  In  June,  1797,  after  seeking  reconciliation 
with  God  through  Jesus  Christ,  with  a  broken  and  contrite 
heart,  he  found  peace  in  believing.  The  Divine  Spirit  selected 
and  anointed  him  for  signal  achievements  in  the  Church. 
Joshua  Taylor,  who  was  presiding  elder  in  Maine  about  this 
time,  perceived  beneath  the  rudeness  and  rusticity  of  his  ap- 
pearance those  elements  of  promise  which  have  since  distin- 


382  HISTORY   OF   THE 

guished  his  career,  and  encouraged  him  immediately  to  enter 
upon  his  ministerial  labors.  He  was  then  (1798)  but  about 
seventeen  years  of  age.  He  accompanied  Taylor  around  the 
district,  exhorting  after  his  sermons,  exciting  general  interest 
by  his  youth  and  devotion,  and  not  a  little  by  the  contrast 
which  he  presented  of  rustic  awkwardness  with  extraordinary 
though  unpolished  talents.  He  labored  hard  and  rose  rapidly 
in  the  ministry.  In  1804  he  took  charge  of  and  traveled  two 
years  as  presiding  elder  the  District  of  Maine.  This  was  the 
only  District  in  the  province  at  that  period ;  he  had,  therefore, 
the  oversight  of  the  entire  Methodist  interest  of  that  large 
section  of  New  England.  Thirteen  Circuits  were  under  his 
superintendence.  His  sermons  at  this  time  are  reported  to 
have  been  distinguished  by  that  breadth  of  view  and  majesty 
of  style  which,  in  later  years,  notwithstanding  some  abate- 
ment through  the  variety  of  his  responsibilities,  continued  to 
mark  with  greatness  his  pulpit  efforts.  His  word  was  often- 
times in  irresistible  power,  bearing  down  upon  the  large  as- 
semblies which  collected  to  hear  him  like  the  storm  on  the 
bending  forest.  He  shared  fully,  during  his  presiding  elder- 
ship in  Maine,  the  sufferings  of  the  early  itinerancy :  long 
journeys  on  horseback,  over  new  roads,  through  vast  forests, 
in  the  storms  of  winter ;  fording  dangerous  streams,  lodging  in 
exposed  log-cabins,  preaching  almost  daily,  and  receiving  a 
pecuniary  compensation  scarcely  sufficient  for  traveling  ex- 
penses and  clothing.  These  were  the  tests,  however,  which 
made  strong  men  of  the  Methodist  preachers  of  that  day-  He 
continued  to  travel  in  Maine  and  Massachusetts  till  1816,  when 
he  was  appointed  Book  Agent  at  New  York.  He  did  good 
service  for  the  Church  in  this  capacity  during  four  years,  es- 
pecially by  the  publication  of  the  Methodist  Magazine,  the 
appearance  of  which,  "even  at  this  late  period,"  says  the 
historian  of  the  Church,  "  was  hailed  by  the  friends  of  liter- 
ature and  religion  as  the  harbinger  of  brighter  days  to  our 
Zion."  Bangs  took  Soule's  place  at  the  Book  Rooms  in  1820, 
and  the  latter  was  stationed  in  New  York  city,  where  he 
labored  two  years  with  Hunt,  Hibbard,  Spicer,  and  Summer- 
field.     The  following  two  years  he  spent  in  Baltimore,  and  in 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  383 

1824  was  elected  to  the  episcopacy  in  the  forty-third  year  of 
his  age  and  the  twenty-sixth  of  his  ministry.  For  forty-three 
years  he  sustained  the  onerous  responsibilities  of  that  office, 
traversing  the  continent  from  the  Penobscot  in  Maine  to  the 
Colorado  in  Texas,  presiding  in  Conferences,  visiting  in  long 
and  perilous  journeys  the  Indian  Missions,  and  energetically 
laboring,  by  the  many  facilities  of  his  position,  for  the  pro- 
motion of  the  Church. 

In  the  discussions  of  the  General  Conference  of  1844,  which 
resulted  in  the  division  of  the  Church,  he  attached  himself  to 
the  party  formed  by  the  representatives  of  the  South.  He 
was  erect,  tall,  and  slight  in  person,  and  dignified  in  his  bear- 
ing ;  his  forehead  high,  but  narrow,  his  voice  strong  and  com- 
manding. In  the  pulpit  he  was  slow,  and  long  in  his  sermons — ■ 
usually  occupying  an  hour  and  a  half  for  each;  elaborate, 
almost  entirely  destitute  of  imagination  or  figurative  illustra- 
tions, but  strongly  fortified  in  the  main  positions  of  his  subject, 
and  vigorous  in  his  style.  His  discourses  showed  more 
breadth  than  depth,  but  were  often  overwhelmingly  impress- 
ive. The  dignity  of  his  bearing,  frequently  verging  on 
majesty  itself,  gave  to  his  sermons,  at  times,  an  imposing 
solemnity;  but  on  occasions  less  congruous  with  it,  had  the 
disadvantage  of  appearing,  to  the  fastidious  at  least,  pompous 
and  repulsive.  He  did  great  services  and  endured  great  priva- 
tions for  Methodism.  Northern  Methodists,  however  they 
may  regret  his  later  measures,  will  ever  recall  him  with  grati- 
tude and  respect  as  one  of  their  veteran  pioneers,  and  a  noble 
son  of  their  soil.  He  died,  near  Nashville,  Tenn.,  March  6, 
1867,  in  the  full  assurance  of  faith. 

There  was  no  Conference  in  New  England  in  1799 ;  the 
New  York  Conference  made  the  appointments  for  the  Eastern 
States.  Elijah  Hedding,  though  his  name  does  not  appear  in 
the  Minutes  till  a  later  date,  commenced  traveling  this  year  by 
the  direction  of  the  presiding  elder.  He  was  born  in  Duchess 
County,  N.  Y.,  June  7,  1780,  but  removed  with  his  parents,  at 
about  his  tenth  year,  to  Starksborough,  Yt.  The  Methodist 
itinerants  had  not  yet  penetrated  thither ;  but  an  aged  Meth- 
odist and  his  wife,  a  "  mother  in  Israel,"  had  removed  to  that 


384  HISTORY    OF   THE 

town  from  Connecticut,  and,  though  remote  from  any  members 
of  their  chosen  communion,  and  several  miles  from  any  church 
whatever,  they  let  their  light  so  shine  that  their  neighbors  saw 
their  good  works,  and  glorified  their  Father  which  is  in  heaven. 
The  Church  is  indebted  for  the  services  of  this  distinguished 
man  to  the  instrumentality  of  that  elect  lady.  Meetings  were 
opened  in  her  humble  dwelling  two  or  three  years  before  the 
arrival  of  the  itinerants.  There  was  no  one  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, at  first,  capable  of  praying  in  public,  except  herself  and 
her  husband,  who  was  a  devoted  Christian  of  moderate  abilities. 
They  induced  young  Hedding,  then  about  sixteen  years  old,  to 
assist  them  in  their  Sabbath  services.  Though  uninterested  in 
religion,  he  consented  to  read  a  sermon  every  Sunday  to  the 
assembled  neighbors,  the  good  man  of  the  house  beginning 
and  concluding  the  exercises  with  singing  and  prayer.  His 
first  permanent  religious  impressions  were  produced  by  the 
conversations  of  the  Christian  matron.  Joseph  Mitchell,  a 
man  mighty  in  word  and  in  doctrine,  opportunely  visited  the 
place.  Hedding  heard  him  preach,  his  convictions  were  deep- 
ened, and  as  he  returned  to  his  home  he  retired  into  a  forest, 
and,  kneeling  down  by  a  large  tree,  covenanted  with  God  to 
live  and  die  in  his  service,  whatever  might  be  the  sacrifice  in- 
volved in  the  resolution.  Soon  after  he  heard  Mitchell  again  ; 
the  discourse  was  one  of  remarkable  power ;  it  disclosed  to 
him,  in  a  manner  he  had  never  yet  perceived,  the  exceeding 
sinfulness  of  sin,  and  the  peril  of  the  unrenewed  soul.  He 
looked  with  longing  solicitude  for  the  next  visit  of  the  itinerant 
evangelist,  who  soon  arrived  and  preached  in  the  house  where 
the  youthful  penitent  had  been  accustomed  to  read  the  sermons 
of  Wesley.  After  the  discourse  a  class  meeting  was  held,  as 
usual,  by  the  preacher.  On  ascertaining  the  deep  convictions 
of  young  Hedding,  he  proposed  that  special  prayer  should  be 
made  in  his  behalf;  the  itinerant  and  the  pious  cottagers  bowed 
around  him,  and  continued  in  supplications  till  peace  dawned  on 
his  troubled  spirit.  This  was  on  the  27th  of  December,  179  8. 
It  was  not  long  before  he  was  licensed  to  exhort,  and  in 
about  a  year  he  was  sent  by  the  presiding  elder  to  Essex  Cir- 
cuit, Yt.,  to  supply  the  place  of  the  eccentric  Lorenzo  Dow, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  385 

who,  after  traveling  and  laboring  with  incredible  diligence, 
had  departed  under  a  supposed  divine  impression  to  preach  in 
Ireland.  Hedding  continued  three  months  on  the  Circuit, 
exhorting,  without  a  text,  at  all  the  appointments,  holding  a 
public  meeting  and  leading  a  class  daily.  His  word  was  in  de- 
monstration of  the  Spirit  and  of  power,  and  revivals  broke  out 
around  the  whole  Circuit.  He  soon  after  received  license  as  a 
local  preacher,  and  at  the  Conference  of  1801  was  accepted 
on  probation,  and  dispatched  to  Plattsburgh.  In  1802  he 
was  appointed  to  Fletcher  Circuit,  a  large  field  of  labor, 
extending  from  Onion  River,  Vt.,  on  the  south,  fifteen  or 
twenty  miles  beyond  the  Canada  line,  and  including  the  settle- 
ments east  of  Lake  Champlain  and  west  of  the  Green  Mount- 
ains. Here  he  had  to  travel  three  hundred  miles  a  month, 
preach  once,  and  often  twice,  daily,  besides  attending  classes 
and  prayer-meetings.  His  colleague  was  Henry  Ryan,  "a 
brave  Irishman,"  he  says,  a  man,  who  labored  as  if  the  judg- 
ment thunders  were  to  follow  each  sermon.  The  route  of 
the  Circuit  was  in  the  form  of  the  figure  eight.  The  two 
preachers  usually  met  at  the  point  of  intersection,  when  Ryan, 
hastily  saluting  his  young  fellow-laborer,  would  exclaim  as  he 
passed,  "  Drive  on  !  drive  on,  brother !  let  us  drive  the  devil 
out  of  the  land  !  "  a  significant  though  rough  expression  of  the 
tireless  energy  which  characterized  the  itinerant  ministry  of 
that  day.  Here,  likewise,  were  encountered  all  the  privations 
and  exposures  of  a  recent  country ;  bad  roads,  long  drives  in 
wintry  storms,  through  forests  bound  in  ice,  and  sleepless 
nights  spent  in  cabins  through  which  the  winds  whistled  and 
the  rain  dropped.  More  serious  trials  attended  them  and  their 
successors  in  this  region.  In  some  places  Hedding  was  hooted 
and  threatened  in  the  streets;  Dow  was  struck  in  the  face; 
Abner  Wood  was  horsewhipped;  and  Elijah  Sabin  severely 
wounded  on  the  head  by  the  butt-end  of  a  whip.  Still  they 
prevailed ;  their  persecutors  were  often  marvelously  awakened, 
and  now  peaceful  and  prosperous  Churches  are  spread  all  over 
that  region,  the  fruits  of  the  toils  and  sufferings  of  Hedding 
and  his  co-laborers.  He  continued  to  travel  on  circuits  and 
districts  in  almost  all  parts  of  the  East  down  to  1824,  when  he 

25 


386  HISTORY    OF   THE 

was  elevated  to  the  episcopate.  The  whole  nation  became 
his  field.  He  stood  firmly  at  his  post  in  days  of  strife  and 
peril,  and  aided  in  conducting  the  Church  through  exigencies 
which  made  the  stoutest  hearts  tremble.  From  the  time  he 
commenced  proclaiming  the  truth  in  the  wilds  of  New  Hamp- 
shire and  Canada,  he  never  wavered  in  the  hope  that  God 
designed  Methodism  for  enduring  and  universal  triumphs. 

Bishop  Hedding,  as  remembered  by  most  of  the  Church, 
was  tall,  stout,  and  dignified  in  person ;  his  locks  white  with 
age,  his  face  remarkable  for  its  benign  and  intelligent  expres- 
sion, and  his  tout  ensemble  most  venerable  and  impressive. 
His  manners  were  marked  by  perfect  simplicity  and  ease.  In 
the  pulpit  he  was  always  perspicuous,  lucid,  and  instructive. 
His  discourses  were  precisely  arranged,  delivered  moderately, 
in  a  style  of  extreme  plainness,  and  frequently  with  passages  of 
affecting  pathos.  He  was  distinguished  for  his  accuracy  in  the 
doctrines  and  discipline  of  Methodism,  the  exact  discrimination 
of  his  judgment,  the  extraordinary  tenacity  of  his  memory,  the 
permanence  of  his  friendships,  and  his  invariable  prudence. 
The  ecclesiastical  year  1799-1800  included  thirteen  months, 
and  had  been  attended  with  gratifying  prosperity.  There  were 
now  in  Connecticut  1,571  Methodists ;  in  Rhode  Island,  227 ; 
Massachusetts,  1,577 ;  Maine,  1,197 ;  New  Hampshire,  171 ; 
Vermont,  1,096 ;  total  5,839. 

We  have  reached  the  date  of  a  new  century,  of  the  organ- 
ization of  the  New  England  Conference  by  its  separation  from 
that  of  New  York,  and  of  the  retirement  of  Lee,  the  chief 
hero  of  this  part  of  our  narrative,  from  the  eastern  field.  We 
have  seen  him,  solitary  and  friendless,  begin  his  mission  in 
New  England  by  proclaiming  "Ye  must  be  born  again,"  on 
the  highway  of  Norwalk,  June  17,  1789 ;  eleven  years  have 
passed,  years  of  vast  labors,  sore  trials,  of  poverty  and  perplex- 
ity, yet  of  triumph.  A-  host  of  great  evangelists  have  entered 
the  field:  Roberts,  Smith,  Bloodgood,  Mills,  Hunt,  Taylor, 
Mudge,  Pickering,  Ostrander,  Mitchell,  M'Combs,  Brodhead, 
Merritt,  Sabin,  Bostwick,  Beauchamp,  Coate,  Soule,  Hedding, 
Kibby,  Webb,  and  many  others  who  were  "  mighty  through 
God."     They  have  confounded  opposition,  have  preached  the 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  387 

word  "  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power/'  from 
Fairfield  in  Connecticut  to  the  furthest  eastern  settlement  of 
Maine,  and  from  Provincetown  in  Massachusetts  to  St.  Albans 
in  Vermont.  They  have  laid  securely  the  foundations  of 
Methodism  in  the  New  England  States,  and  at  the  close  of 
eleven  years  we  behold  it  spread  into  bands,  comprising  nearly 
fifty  preachers  and  more  than  five  thousand  eight  hundred 
members,  an  average  of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  to  each 
preacher,  and  these  members  and  preachers  distributed  over 
four  Districts  and  thirty-one  Circuits. 

In  the  remainder  of  the  period  Asbury,  accompanied  by 
Whatcoat,  made   repeated  tours  through  the  Eastern  States, 
penetrating  to  the  interior  of  Maine.     Their  visits  were  high 
festivals  to  the  young  Churches,  and  the  Conference  sessions, 
especially,  were  jubilees.     Lee  also,  in  the  summer  of  1800,  re- 
entered the  great  field  for  the  last  time,  except  a  hasty  visit 
some  eight  years  later.      It  was  his  general  leave-taking.     He 
passed  through  its  whole  extent  into  Canada,  and  back  by  the 
Hudson,  preaching  farewell   sermons  amid  the  benedictions 
and  tears  of  the  people.     His  fellow-laborers  and  fellow-suf- 
ferers in  the  itinerancy  parted  with  him,  from  place  to  place, 
with  the  deepest  feeling,  as  from  a  hero  who  had  led  them  to 
victory,  and  had  secured  for  them  the  hard-fought  field.    During 
this  circuitous  and  rapid  journey  his  preaching  averaged  more 
than  one  sermon  a  day ;  he  was  continually  occupied  also  in 
social  prayer  and  counsels  with  the  Societies.     He  now  leaves 
New  England  to  pursue  his  evangelic  course,  with  unabated 
heroism,  in   other   sections.     The  foundations  of  Methodism 
had  been  laid  by  him  in  all  the  Eastern  States ;    a  large  Con- 
ference had  been  organized ;  chapels  had  sprung  up ;  a  power- 
ful ministry  was  moving  to  and  fro,  proclaiming  the  "  great 
salvation"    through    extended    but    organized    Circuits,  and 
thousands  of  converts  were  recorded  on  the  roll  of  the  Church. 
A  great  work  had  been  achieved,  and  a  great  man  had  left 
his  stamp  upon  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  all  New  England. 
His  name,  until  recently,  had  been  but  little  noted  beyond 
the#  pale  of  his  own  denomination ;  but  his  instrumentality  is 
developing  broader  and  broader  results  as  time  elapses,  and 


388  HISTOEY   OF    THE 

the  future  ecclesiastical  historian  of  these  Eastern  States  will 
place  him  among  the  foremost  men  of  their  religious  annals. 

The  remaining  four  years  were  abundant  in  itinerant  rein- 
forcements :  Daniel  Fidler,  a  laborer  from  Yirginia  and  the 
Bedstone  country,  to  Nova  Scotia,  and  at  last  a  patriarch  of 
the  New  Jersey  Conference ;  Ebenezer  F.  Newhall,  an  apostle 
of  those  memorable  times  ;  Philip  Munger  and  Asa  Heath,  vet- 
erans of  Maine  Conference ;  Asa  Kent-,  a  patriarch  of  Provi- 
dence Conference,  and  indeed  of  all  New  England,  still  re- 
membered by  many  for  the  sanctity  of  his  life,  his  small 
stature,  halting  gait,  wenned  neck,  and  grave  aspect ;  Samuel 
Hillman,  long  a  hard  worker  in  Maine ;  Oliver  Beale,  a  saint 
in  the  calendar  of  the  Church  ;  and  many  others  equally  worthy. 

Thomas  Branch  was  now  a  faithful  and  eminent  itinerant, 
whose  health  broke  down  at  last  under  the  severities  of  the 
climate.  He  proposed  to  go  to  the  southwest,  and  labor,  while 
his  dwindling  strength  should  last,  in  the  Western  Conference, 
the  only  Conference  then  beyond  the  Alleghanies.  He  took 
leave  of  his  Eastern  brethren  in  much  debility,  and  de- 
parted on  horseback,  with  the  usual  itinerant  accompani- 
ment, the  saddle-bags  for  his  few  books  and  rations,  to  pene- 
trate through  the  forests  to  Marietta,  on  the  Ohio.  He  never 
arrived,  however ;  on  passing  from  the  western  wilds  of  New 
York,  down  toward  Ohio,  along  the  southern  shore  of  Lake 
Erie,  he  disappeared.  News  came  at  last  that  he  had  died 
somewhere  among  the  log-cabins  in  the  then  remote  forest  of 
the  northwestern  angle  of  Pennsylvania ;  but  even  this  vague 
information  reached  not  most  of  those  to  whom  he  was  dear  in 
New  England  till  fifteen  years  later,  when  one  of  his  old  fellow- 
laborers  at  the  East,  who  had,  meanwhile,  been  elevated  to  the 
episcopate,  was  pursuing  his  official  visitations  at  the  West,  and 
accidentally  discovering  the  place  of  his  decease,  sent  home  for 
publication  information  of  his  fate.  "  He  fell,"  wrote  his  friend, 
"  in  the  wilderness,-  on  his  way  to  this  country,  in  the  month  of 
June,  1812.  His  grave  is  in  the  woods,  in  the  state  of  Penn- 
sylvania, near  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  between  the  states  of  New 
York  and  Ohio.  As  I  came  through  that  part  of  the  country 
I  made  inquiry  respecting  the  sickness,  death,  and  burial  of  our 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  389 

once  beloved  fellow-laborer  in  the  cause  of  Christ.  An  intelli- 
gent friend,  who  said  lie  had  frequently  visited  and  watched 
with  him  in  his  last  sickness,  and  attended  his  funeral,  gave  me, 
in  substance,  the  following  circumstances.  When  he  came  into 
the  neighborhood  where  he  died  it  was  a  new  settlement,  where 
there  was  no  Methodist  Society,  and  but  few  professors  of  religion 
of  any  name.  He  preached  on  a  Sabbath,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  service  stated  to  the  strangers  that  he  was  on  a  journey,  that 
he  was  ill,  and  unable  to  proceed,  and  desired  that  some  one 
would  entertain  him  till  he  should  recover  his  strength  suffi- 
ciently to  pursue  his  way.  There  was  a  long  time  of  silence 
in  the  congregation.  At  last  one  man  came  forward  and  invited 
him  home.  At  that  house  he  lingered  many  weeks,  and  finally 
expired.  The  accommodations  were  poor  for  a  sick  man — a 
small  log-house,  containing  a  large  family,  consisting  in  part  of 
small  children ;  but  doubtless  it  was  the  best  the  place  could 
afford.  In  his  sickness  (which  was  pulmonary  consumption) 
his  sufferings  were  severe;  but  his  patience  and  his  religious 
consolations  were  great  also.  He  frequently  preached,  prayed, 
and  exhorted,  sitting  on  his  bed,  when  he  was  unable  to  go  out 
or  even  to  stand.  And  so  he  continued  laboring  for  the  salva- 
tion of  men  while  his  strength  would  permit,  and  rejoicing  in 
the  Lord  to  the  hour  of  his  death.  The  above-named  eye  and 
ear  witness  informed  me  that  he  frequently  said  to  him,  <  It  is 
an  inscrutable  providence  that  brought  me  here  to  die  in  this 
wilderness.'  '  But,'  said  the  witness,  \  that  providence  was  ex- 
plained after  his  death  ;  for,  through  the  instrumentality  of  his 
labors,  his  patience,  fortitude,  and  religious  joys  in  his  sickness, 
a  glorious  revival  of  religion  shortly  after  took  place,  a  goodly 
number  of  souls  were  converted  to  God,  other  preachers  were 
invited  to  the  place,  and  a  large  Methodist  Society  was  organ- 
ized after  his  death.'  That  Society  continues  to  prosper,  and 
they  have  now  a  good  house  for  worship.  After  the  soul  of  our 
brother  had  gone  to  heaven,  his  body  was  conveyed  to  the  grave 
on  a  sled  drawn  by  oxen.  The  corpse  was  carried  to  a  log 
building'in  the  woods,  called  a  meeting-house ;  but  the  propri- 
etors denied  admittance,  and  the  funeral  solemnities  were  per- 
formed without.     As  I  came  through  the  woodland  in  company 


390  I1ISTOEY    OF    THE 

with  a  preacher,  having  been  informed  where  the  place  of  his 
interment  was,  leaving  our  horse  and  carriage  by  the  road,  we 
walked  some  rods  into  the  forest,  and  found  the  old  log  meet- 
ing-house, which  had  refused  the  stranger  the  rites  of  a  funeral ; 
but  it  was  partly  fallen,  and  forsaken.  Then  following  a  narrow 
path  some  distance  further  through  the  woods,  we  came  to  a 
small  opening,  which  appeared  to  have  been  cleared  of  the  wood 
for  a  habitation  for  the  dead.  After  walking  and  looking  some 
time,  a  decent  stone,  near  one  corner  of  the  yard,  under  the 
shade  of  the  thick-set,  tall  forest,  informed  us  where  the  body 
of  our  dear  departed  friend  had  been  laid.  A  large  oak  tree  had 
fallen,  and  lay  across  two  of  the  adjoining  tenants  of  that  lonely 
place.  We  kneeled,  prayed,  and  left  the  quiet  spot,  in  joyful 
hope  of  meeting  our  brother  again  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just." 

Martin  Ruter,  who  was  born  in  Sutton,  Mass.,  in  1785,  but 
sleeps  in  a  missionary  grave  on  the  banks  of  the  Brazos,  in 
Texas,  entered  the  eastern  itinerant  ranks  in  1801,  called  into 
them  by  Brodhead.  He  was  one  of  the  noblest  sons  of  New 
England,  a  good  debater  and  writer,  an  able  preacher,  a  leader 
of  the  educational  interests  of  the  denomination  in  the  East 
and  in  the  West,  one  of  its  best  representative  characters  for 
many  years,  and  at  last  a  pioneer  evangelist  on  its  furthest 
frontier. 

Laban  Clark  also  appears  on  the  Conference  roll,  for  the 
first  time,  in  1801.  Born  in  Haverhill,  K  H.,  in  1778,  and 
early  removing  to  Vermont,  he  heard  some  of  the  first 
evangelists  who  penetrated  the  latter  state,  and  became  a 
Methodist  in  1799.  In  1800  he  was  preaching  about  his 
neighborhood  with  John  Langdon,  a  local  preacher,  and  one 
of  the  principal  founders  of  the  Church  in  Yermont.  Brod- 
head, who,  the  same  year,  had  pressed  Ruter  into  the  itin- 
erant service,  now  summoned  out  Clark,  and  thus  presented 
to  the  Church  two  of  its  most  important  public  men. 
Clark  still  lives,  after  more  than  sixty  years  of  invaluable 
services;  his  life,  like  that  of  Ruter,  has  been  so  exten- 
sively identified  with  the  general  history  of  the  Church 
as  not  to  admit  of  its  individualization  here.  A  man 
of  vigorous  physical  health,  of  strong  and  genial  mind,  of 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  391 

great  practical  capacity,  of  never-wavering  enthusiasm  for  his 
Church  and  all  its  important  enterprises,  a  living  history  of  it 
for  more  than  threescore  years,  and  an  able  preacher,  notwith- 
standing a  marked  vocal  defect,  he  has  been  prominent  among 
its  most  exponent  characters. 

These  remaining  four  years  were  eventful  to  the  Church  all 
over  the  Eastern  States.  They  began  with  the  first  session  of 
the  New  England  Conference,  as  a  distinct  organized  body,  at 
Lynn,  Mass.,  July  8,  1800.  Eevivals  prevailed  generally, 
greatly  increasing  the  congregations  and  societies.  The 
itinerancy  was  not  only  largely  recruited,  but  in  a  few  places 
tested  by  severe  persecutions.  Elijah  E.  Sabin  was  mobbed 
on  Needham  Circuit,  where  he  preached  in  the  open  air. 
Some  of  his  brethren,  at  the  Conference,  would  moderate  his 
zeal ;  but  Asbury  approved  him,  affirming  that  "  this  is  the 
way  Methodist  preachers  began,  and  we  need  warm  hearts  to 
carry  the  work  forward."  The  Boston  Methodists  suffered 
much  from  the  rabble,  who  besieged  their  humble  temple, 
begun  on  Hanover  Avenue  (then  known  as  Methodist  Alley) 
in  1795,  but  not  completed  till  1800,  after  which  time,  say  its 
old  records,  "  the  troubled  and  persecuted  society  found,  in 
some  degree,  rest  to  their  souls  ; "  it  was  yet  only,  however,  in 
"some  degree.""  They  had  still  many  a  sore  conflict  before 
cultivated  Boston  properly  recognized  them.  Hibbard  fought 
his  way  through  intolerable  trials  on  Granville  Circuit.  He 
speaks  of  twenty-six  sermons  a  month  as  u  moderate  labor," 
and  only  complains  when  he  had  twelve  appointments  a  week, 
and  "  no  rest-week  in  which  to  go  home  and  visit  his  family." 
"  Some  days,"  he  says,  "  when  riding  to  my  appointments,  I 
was  almost  all  the  way  in  tears,  often  inquiring  of  the  Lord, 
in  ejaculatory  prayers,  *  What  can  I  do  to  save  these  souls  from 
delusion  ? '  Some  threw  stones  at  me,  and  some  set  their  dogs 
on  me  as  I  rode  along ;  but  the  Lord  defended  me.  I  never 
had  a  stone  to  hit  me,  nor  a  dog  to  bite  me.  Some  threatened 
to  whip  me,  but  I  escaped  all.  I  heard  of  many  threats,  but 
none  laid  hands  on  me."  In  Lancaster,  Yt.,  Langdon,  Clark, 
and  Crawford  were  assailed  by  the  mob.  The  ruffians  cowered 
before  the  courage  of  Langdon,  who  was  a  gigantic  and  brave 


392  HISTORY   OF   THE 

man ;  but  they  carried  off  Crawford,  and  ducked  him  in  the 
river,  with  huzzas.  In  this  same  State,  now  so  tolerant  and 
so  Methodistic,  Washburn  had  similar  trials,  though  better 
escapes.  "  I  have  had,"  he  says,  "  stones  and  snowballs  cast  at 
me  in  volleys.  I  have  had  great  dogs  sent  after  me,  to  frighten 
my  horse,  as  I  was  peacefully  passing  through  small  villages ; 
but  I  was  never  harmed  by  any  of  them.  I  have  been  saluted 
with  the  sound  of  '  glory,  hosanna,  amen,  halleluiah  ! '  mixed 
with  oaths  and  profanity.  If  I  turned  my  horse  to  ride 
toward  them,  they  would  show  their  want  of  confidence,  both 
in  their  master  and  in  themselves,  by  scattering  and  fleeing 
like  base  cowards."  Even  in  Middletown,  Conn.,  (now  the 
seat  of  their  university,)  the  Methodists  suffered  such  persecu- 
tions. Stocking,  of  Glastenbury,  long  a  venerated  local 
preacher,  writes :  "  I  have  been  stoned,  and  my  life  put  in 
jeopardy,  by  the  lawless  mob.  Open  persecution  continued 
there  until  put  down  by  the  strong  arm  of  the  law.  Thanks 
to  God,  Middletown  is  renovated ! "  Ostrander,  reporting 
a  great  revival  there  in  1 802,  says  :  "  The  spirit  of  persecution 
is  much  awake.  The  houses  where  we  assemble  are  frequently 
stoned,  and  the  windows  broken  to  pieces ;  but  all  this  does 
not  move  the  young  converts,  who  are  as  bold  as  lions." 

Kibby  was  threatened  with  violence  in  Marblehead,  and 
advised  to  leave  the  town,  but  stood  his  ground  successfully. 
The  Methodists  of  those  days  were  in  many  places  persecuted 
even  to  fines,  the  seizure  of  their  goods,  and,  sometimes,  im- 
prisonment, by  the  dominant  Church.  They  were  denounced 
from  the  pulpits,  maltreated  in  the  courts,  interrupted  in  the 
course  of  their  sermons  with  charges  of  heresy,  and  assailed  in 
the  streets  by  the  rabble.  Washburn,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
hooted  through  the  villages ;  Hedding  cursed  with  outcries  on 
the  highway ;  Dow's  nose  was  publicly  wrung ;  Sabin  was 
knocked  down,  and  struck  on  the  head,  to  the  peril  of  his 
life,  with  the  butt  of  a  gun;  Wood  was  horsewhipped; 
Christie,  summoned  out  of  bed  to  answer  to  a  charge  of 
violating  the  laws,  by  marrying  a  couple  of  his  people  ;  Wil- 
lard,  wounded  in  the  eye  by  a  blow,  the  effect  of  which  was 
seen  through  his  life ;  Mudge,  denied  the  rights  of  a  clergy- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  393 

man,  and  arraigned  before  the  magistrate  for  assuming  them ; 
Xibby,  stoned  while  preaching,  and  Taylor  drummed  out  of 
town.  It  requires  more  determination  to  endure  such  griev- 
ances than  to  meet  graver  trials;  but  the  early  Methodist 
itinerants  were  proof  against  both. 

With  all  its  poverty  and  persecutions  the  Church  prevailed 
surprisingly  during  this  period.  There  were,  at  its  close, 
more  than  ten  thousand  Methodists  in  New  England.  It  had 
about  fifty  Circuits,  and  moret  han  eighty  itinerants.  It  had 
gained  since  1796  more  than  seven  thousand  five  hundred 
members,  twenty-nine  Circuits,  and  fifty-seven  preachers. 


394  HISTORY    OF   THE 


CHAPTEE  XXVI. 

METHODISM  IN  THE  WEST:   1796-1804- 

We  have  seen  the  progress  of  Methodism  in  the  "West  down  to 
1796,  in  its  first  field,  the  ultra-Alleghany  region  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, called  the  Redstone  country.  The  present  period  opens 
there  with  &ve  Circuits  and  nine  preachers,  comprehended  in 
one  District.  Valentine  Cook  commands  the  little  band  as 
presiding  elder.  We  find  in  it  James  Paynter,  who  had 
pioneered  among  the  Tioga  Mountains,  and  Nathaniel  B. 
Mills,  whom  we  have  met  in  the  Wyoming  Valley,  its  first 
itinerant  preacher,  and  also  an  associate  of  Lee  in  the  earliest 
struggles  of  the  Church  in  New  England.  Such  was  the 
itinerancy  of  these  days.  Cook  was  the  champion  of  the  field. 
He  flew  over  his  District  like  a  herald' — a  king's  messenger — 
proclaiming  the  Gospel,  night  and  day,  directing  his  preachers, 
and  rousing  the  scattered  settlements. 

The  next  year  Daniel  Hitt  had  charge  of  the  vast  district ;  a 
Virginian,  who  began  to  travel  in  1790,  and  became  distin- 
guished throughout  the  Connection  as  an  effective  laborer, 
the  traveling  companion  of  Asbury  and  M'Kendree,  and  for 
eight  years  the  Book  Agent  of  the  Church  in  New  York  city ; 
and  who  died,  after  a  ministry  of  thirty-five  years,  in  Washing- 
ton County,  Md.,  in  1825,  in  the  hope  of  the  Gospel.  James 
Quinn,  to  whom  we  have  been  already  indebted  for  many  his- 
torical reminiscences  of  this  region,  appears  for  the  first  time 
on  the  list  of  its  appointments  in  1799,  and  lived  to  be  its  most 
venerable  representative  in  his  Church.  His  family  early 
moved  to  Fayette  County,  where  they  heard  the  first  Method- 
ist itinerants  who  crossed  the  Alleghanies,  and  became  their 
disciples.  It  was  not  till  the  eleventh  year  of  his  age  that 
young  Quinn  heard  a  sermon ;  he  had  then  the  great  privilege 
of  hearing  the  saintly  Peter  Moriarty.     In  his  thirteenth  year 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUHCH.  395 

he  witnessed  the  second  Conference  beyond  the  Alleghames, 
at  Uniontown,  Pa.  He  was  converted  and  joined  the  Method- 
ists in  1792,  under  the  ministry  of  Daniel  Fidler  and  James 
Coleman,  whom  we  have  already  met  in  far-off  fields  of  labor. 
He  was  immediately  pressed  into  active  service  in  the  Church, 
and  in  1799  was  received  on  probation  by  the  Baltimore  Con- 
ference, and  appointed  to  Greenfield  Circuit,  which  extended 
into  three  counties.  Before  the  year  ended  he  was  tossed  about 
on  at  least  three  similar  Circuits.  Thus  began  his  long  and 
faithful  career.  More  than  half  a  century  after  he  began  his 
ministry  he  stood  in  a  Conference  in  Ohio,  and  could  say, 
"And  now  here  I  am,  i  a  reed  shaken  with  the  wind,'  a  feeble 
old  man,  trembling  as  I  lean  upon  the  top  of  my  staff;  but 
where  am  I  ?  In  the  midst  of  a  Conference  of  ministers  near 
one  hundred  and  fifty  in  number,  most  of  whom  have  been 
twice  born  since  the  time  of  which  I  speak.  Among  them  are 
the  sons,  the  grandsons,  and  great-grandsons  of  those  who 
kindly  received  me,  and  to  whom  I  ministered  in  their  humble 
dwellings.  No  doubt  I  have  taken  some  of  these  ministers  in 
my  arms,  and  dedicated  them  to  God  in  holy  baptism  ;  and  on 
some  of  them  I  have  laid  my  hand  in  consecrating  them  to  the 
sacred  office  and  work  of  the  ministry.  O !  why  should  my 
heart  yield  to  fear  ?  The  Lord  of  hosts  is  with  us,  the  God  of 
Jacob  is  yet  our  help."  As  a  preacher  he  was  very  instructive, 
and  not  unfrequently  exceedingly  powerful.  His  manners 
showed  a  singular  blending  of  dignity  and  amenity,  the  truest 
style  of  the  real  gentleman ;  solemnity  and  pathos  character- 
ized him  in  his  religious  exercises ;  his  form  was  manly,  nearly 
six  feet  in  height,  and  well  proportioned ;  his  forehead  promi- 
nent and  broad ;  his  eyes  dark,  deeply  set,  and  shaded  by  heavy 
brows. 

Lasley  Matthews  was  also  a  pioneer  itinerant  of  these  times, 
an  Irishman  and  a  Papist,  who  had  served  in  the  Revolution- 
ary war.  While  in  camp  he  was  associated  with  Chieuvrant, 
who  himself  had  been  a  Papist,  but  who  now  read  to  his  com- 
rade a  small  Bible,  which  he  carried  in  his  pocket,  and  thus  led 
him  to  a  religious  life.  Both  became  zealous  preachers  and 
founders  of  the  Church  in  the  West.     We  have  met  Chieu- 


396  HISTORY   OF   THE 

vrant  repeatedly,  and  seen  him  last  preaching  in  moccasins,  and 
pursuing  with  his  rifle  the  murderous  Indians  on  the  Monon- 
gahela,  a  brave  man  as  well  as  a  devoted  evangelist.  Matthews 
began  to  travel  in  1786,  and  preached  during  twenty-seven 
years,  mostly  in  the  hardest  parts  of  the  work.  After  doing 
chivalric  service  he  was  crowned  with  a  fitting  victory.  He 
died  in  1813,  on  his  way  to  meet  his  brethren  in  Conference. 
"  When,"  wrote  one  of  his  friends,  "  he  could  no  longer  ar- 
ticulate, by  putting  my  ear  to  his  lips  I  could  hear  him  at- 
tempting to  say  '  Glory  !  Praise  him  !  My  Jesus,  come  ! ' " 
Thornton  Fleming  had  charge  of  the  district  in  1801.  Born  in 
Virginia  in  1764,  he  joined  the  Methodists  in  about  his  twen- 
tieth year,  and  the  itinerancy  in  his  twenty-fourth  year,  and  con- 
tinued to  labor  with  his  might  through  a  ministry  of  more  than 
fifty-seven  years;  part  of  the  time  in  Yirginia,  on  some  of  its 
most  mountainous  Circuits ;  part  as  presiding  elder,  among  the 
Tioga  and  Wyoming  mountains  and  New  York  interior  lakes, 
where  we  have  already  met  him,  but  most  of  the  time  in  the 
ultra- Alleghany  region  of  Pennsylvania,  where  he  did  much  to 
found  the  Pittsburgh  and  Erie  Conferences,  and  was  one  of  the 
first  members  of  the  former.  For  fifteen  years  he  filled  the 
laborious  office  of  presiding  elder.  He  was  to  suffer  much, 
and  perish  at  Jast,  by  a  cancer  in  his  left  eye,  but  to  die  in  the 
assured  hope  of  the  Gospel,  the  oldest  member  of  the  Pitts- 
burgh Conference,  a  man  "  of  rare  endowments  "  and  distin- 
guished usefulness.  Asa  Shinn  now  also  appears  in  the  Bed- 
stone Circuit,  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  historic  importance 
in  the  Church.  We  have  already  seen  him  struggling,  in  the 
western  woods,  for  intellectual  and  moral  improvement,  under 
the  aid  of  Quinn,  and  beginning  to  preach  "  before  he  had  ever 
seen  a  meeting-house  or  a  pulpit."  He  began  to  itinerate  in 
1800,  on  Pittsburgh  Circuit,  though  he  was  not  received  in  the 
Conference  till  the  next  year.  He  was  a  pioneer  of  Method- 
ism in  many  regions,  in  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Yirginia,  and 
Kentucky,  suffering  much  from  miasmatic  fevers  and  mobs. 
In  his  later  ministry  he  occupied  prominent  appointments  in 
the  Eastern  States.  He  wielded  a  strong  and  sharp  pen,  and 
became  a  champion  of  the  secession  which  led  to  the  organiza- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  397 

tion  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church.  Throughout  the  re- 
mainder of  the  present  period  he  did  brave  service  for  the 
Church  on  Redstone,  Chenango,  Hockhocking,  and  Guyandotte 
Circuits. 

With  such  men  were  associated,  through  more  or  less  of 
this  period,  Kobert  Manly,  Jesse  Stoneman,  James  Hunter, 
Joseph  Shane,  Thomas  Daughaday,  Thomas  Budd,  Shadrach 
Bostwick,  and  others,  some  of  whom  did  notable  service, 
to  be  hereafter  recorded.  By  1804  they  had  extended  the 
Kedstone  District  (now  called  after  the  Monongahela)  far 
and  wide ;  it  reached  into  the  Erie  country,  the  wilds  of  Ohio 
and  Western  Virginia,  and  embraced  nine  vast  Circuits,  over 
which  fourteen  itinerants  were  heralding  the  Gospel  and  organ- 
izing Churches. 

In  penetrating  into  the  more  northern  region,  now  the  vig- 
orous Erie  Conference,  Methodism  had  its  usual  frontier  strug- 
gles. In  1798  a  family  by  the  name  of  Roberts  settled  in 
Chenango;  about  the  same  time  two  Irish  local  preachers, 
Jacob  Gurwell  and  Thomas  M'Clelland,  ("very  respectable 
preachers.")  began  to  labor  among  the  settlers,  proclaiming  the 
word  in  their  cabins  and  in  the  open  air  under  trees.  They 
formed  a  class  this  year,  and  appointed  a  youth,  Robert  R. 
Roberts,  its  leader ;  he  thus  became  the  first  leader  of  the  first 
class  in  the  Erie  Conference,  and  was  destined  to  become  one 
of  the  most  effective  evangelists  and  bishops  of  the  Church 
which  had  found  him  in  these  remote  woods.  He  was  a  stal- 
wart youth,  wearing,  says  his  biographer,  the  common  back-, 
woods  costume:,  the  broad-rimmed,  low-crowned,  white- wool 
hat,  the  hunting  shirt  of  tow  linen,  buckskin  breeches,  and 
moccasin  shoes.  About  1800  Fleming  gave  him  license  to 
exhort ;  but  his  almost  morbid  diffidence  kept  him  from  using 
it ;  the  next  year  Quinn  called  upon  him  often  "  to  speak  to 
the  people,"  which  he  did  with  trembling,  but  with  success. 
When  he  first  presented  himself  in  the  Baltimore  Conference 
he  had  traveled  thither,  from  the  western  wilds,  with  bread 
and  provender  in  his  saddle-bags  and  with  one  dollar  in  his 
pocket ;  but  his  superior  character  immediately  impressed  As- 
bury  and  the  assembled  preachers.     He  passed  in  sixteen  years 


398  HISTORY    OF    THE 

from  the  humble  position  of  a  young  backwoods  itinerant  to 
the  highest  office  of  the  ministry.  His  episcopal  appointment 
was  providential  for  the  great  field  of  Methodism  was  in  the 
"West  and  he  was  a  child  of  the  wilderness ;  he  had  been  edu- 
cated in  its  hardy  habits ;  his  rugged  frame  and  characteristic 
qualities  all  designated  him  as  a  great  evangelist  for  the  great 
West.  ~No  sooner  had  he  been  elected  a  bishop  than  he  fixed 
his  episcopal  residence  in  the  old  cabin  at  Chenango ;  and  his 
next  removal  was  to  Indiana,  then  the  far  West,  where  his 
episcopal  palace  was  a  log-cabin  built  by  his  own  hands,  and 
his  furniture  rude  fabrications  from  the  forest  wood,  made  with 
such  tools  as  he  had  carried  in  his  emigrant  wagon.  The  first 
meal  of  the  bishop  and  his  family  in  his  new  abode  was  of 
roasted  potatoes  only,  and  it  was  begun  and  ended  with  hearty 
thanksgiving.  Here  he  lived  in  the  true  simplicity  of  frontier 
life,  toiling,  at  his  occasional  leisure,  in  the  fields.  The  allow- 
ance for  his  family  expenses,  besides  two  hundred  per  anum 
for  quarterage,  was,  during  most  of  his  episcopal  career,  from 
two  hundred  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per  anum ;  at 
least  this  was  the  case  till  1836. 

Naturally  cheerful  and  amiable,  his  piety  was  never  gloomy, 
though  seldom  ecstatic.  He  was  one  of  the  most  agreeable  of 
companions;  he  could  calmly  endure  afflictions,  and  compas- 
sionately forgive  offenses ;  he  was  fitted  for  domestic  life  and 
permanent  friendships. 

As  a  preacher  he  was  always  interesting,  and  frequently 
eloquent,  though  his  passions  never  had  undue  play  in  the  pul- 
pit. A  thoroughly  systematic  arrangement  of  his  subject,  readi- 
ness of  thought,  fluent  and  generally  correct  diction,  and  a  facile 
yet  dignified  manner,  were  his  characteristics  in  the  desk.  His 
large  person — corpulent,  and  nearly  six  feet  in  height,  his 
strongly-marked  features,  elevated  forehead,  and  manners  of 
extreme  simplicity  and  cordiality,  gave  to  his  presence  the 
air  of  a  superior  man — one  to  be  remembered,  revered,  and 
loved.  • 

Methodism,  beginning  within  the  Erie  Conference  by  the 
formation  of  Roberts's  little  class  in  Chenango,  soon  spread  out 
to  other  settlements.     Emigration  poured  into  the  country, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  399 

bringing  many  Methodist  families  from  the  East.  Settlements 
sprung  up  rapidly  on  each  side  of  the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio 
line.  By  1801  the  Pittsburgh  District,  as  this  whole  region 
was  now  called,  took  in  all  the  present  Erie,  Pittsburgh,  and 
West  Virginia  Conference.  It  reported  two  northern  Cir- 
cuits within  the  present  Erie  Conference,  the  Erie  and  Che- 
nango, traveled  by  Quinn  and  Shane.  Quinn's  whole  field  had 
not  yet  a  single  Society  or  class.  He  went  forth  to  organize  it. 
Asbury,  in  appointing  him  to  it  at  the  Conference,  called  him 
forward,  and,  pressing  him  to  his  bosom,  gave  him  a  Discipline, 
and  said,  "  Go,  my  son,  and  make  full  proof  of  thy  ministry." 
Some  half  dozen  classes  were  formed  on  his  Circuit  before 
the  ecclesiastic  year  closed,  and  some  sixty-five  members 
reported;  while  the  Chenango  Circuit  returned  about  sixty 
members:  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  Methodists  in  all,  the 
nucleus  of  a  Conference  which  now  (1866)  reports  nearly 
thirty  thousand,  and  has  covered  the  country  with  religious 
provisions. 

The  next  year  Asa  Shinn  labored  with  success  through  these 
regions,  and  Henry  Shewel,  a  local  preacher  from  ISTew  Jersey, 
who  had  lived  some  time  in  Redstone,  penetrated  (the  last 
forty  miles  through  an  unbroken  wilderness,  without  a  settler) 
to  Deerfield,  Portage  County,  Ohio,  and  extended  the  Church 
thither,  so  that  in  1803  we  find  Deerfield  reported  as  the  title 
of  a  new  Circuit.  By  1804  there  were  three  Circuits,  with  three 
preachers,  besides  Fleming,  the  presiding  elder,  in  these  north- 
ern "regions,  and  the  membership  had  increased  to  more  than 
five  hundred.  The  whole  district  reported  nine  Circuits,  four- 
teen preachers,  and  more  than  three  thousand  three  hundred 
(3,327)  members. 

Meanwhile,  farther  southward,  within  Yirginia,  the  denomina- 
tion was  pressing  forward  energetically.  Reese  Wolf,  a  local 
preacher,  and  Beauchamp,  who  lately  left  New  England,  had 
arrived  on  the  banks  of  the  little  Kanawha,  and  founded  it 
there. 

Pushing  still  farther  westward  and  southward,  we  are  again 
among  the  evangelists  of  the  Holston  Mountains.  These  heights 
are  as  watch-towers  to  them,  and  we  find  them,  during  these  years, 


400  HISTORY    OF    THE 

now  descending  to  the  westward,  now  to  the  eastward, "  sounding 
the  alarm  "  through  all  the  wilderness,  from  the  Blue  Eidge  to 
the  farthest  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  frontier.  Already  the  Gos- 
pel was  proclaimed,  by  Methodist  itinerants,  through  most  of  the 
hither  mountain  valleys,  those  grand  and  fertile  domains  which 
stretch  away,  between  their  rocky  barriers,  from  the  interior  of 
Pennsylvania  through  Virginia  into  North  Carolina.  Our  pres- 
ent period  opens  with  M'Kendree  on  a  District  which  extends 
through  Bottetourt  County  over  the  ridges  and  valleys  to  the 
Greenbrier,  a  stream  that  flows  into  the  great  Kanawha,  and 
thence  into  the  Ohio;  and  another  District,  under  Philip  Bruce, 
sweeping,  in  like  manner,  far  westward  over  the  more  north- 
ward counties. 

The  year  1796  is  memorable  as  the  epoch  of  the  formal  desig- 
nation of  the  "Western  field  by  the  General  Conference,  as  "  The 
Western  Conference,"  taking  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and 
for  years  the  only  one  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  In  the 
Holston  region  itself  we  find  now,  in  the  outset,  four  immense 
Circuits,  under  the  presiding  eldership  of  Jonathan  Bird,  and 
traveled  by  six  itinerants,  Burke  being  chief  among  them.  Be- 
yond them  lies  the  vast  opening  westward  field,  all  yet  compre- 
hended in  one  District,  which  is  traveled  by  Kobler,  who  has 
six  Circuits  and  ten  preachers  under  his  care. 

Among  his  itinerants  is  Benjamin  Lakin,  for  many  years  an 
endeared  name  in  the  West.  He  was  a  giant  amid  those  great 
revivals  which  prevailed  in  the  West  about  the  beginning  of 
this  century.  One  of  his  contemporaries  says,  that  "in' the 
greatest  excitement  the  clear  and  penetrating  voice  of  Lakin 
might  be  heard  amid  the  din  and  roar  of  the  Lord's  battle. 
Day  and  night  he  was  upon  the  watch-tower,  and  in  the  class 
and  praying  circles  his  place  was  never  empty,  leading  the 
blind  by  the  right  way,  carrying  the  lambs  in  his  bosom, 
urging  on  the  laggard  professor,  and  warning  the  sinner  in 
tones  of  thunder  to  flee  the  wrath  to  come.  He  preached  his 
last  sermon  in  M'Kendree  Chapel,  Brown  County,  Ohio,  on 
the  28th  day  of  January,  1848.  In  about  a  week  afterward, 
visiting  a  Christian  family,  he  sank  down  to  the  floor  and 
quietly  expired,  in  the  eighty-second  year  of  his  age  and  the 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  401 

fifty-fourth  of  his  ministry.  He  was  of  ordinary  height,  but  of 
"  spare  habit,"  excessively  given  to  fasting  or  abstinence,  of  sin- 
gularly tender  conscience ;  but,  "  though  sedate,  there  was  a 
spice  of  quiet  humor  in  his  conversation."  "  His  appearance, 
in  advanced  life,  was  that  of  a  cheerful,  placid  old  man,  and 
such  indeed  he  was." 

In  1798  Bird  and  Poythress  lead,  as  presiding  elders,  the 
Holston  corps,  though  there  was  yet  but  one  District ;  and  we 
meet  again  the  tireless  Yalentine  Cook  at  the  head  of  the  soli- 
tary District  which  comprises  the  more  western  field,  with  its 
six  long  Circuits  and  seven  itinerants.  Before  the  close  of  the 
century  Cook  was  broken  down  in  health.  He  married  and 
settled  in  Kentucky,  where  he  took  charge  of  the  Bethel 
Seminary,  in  Jessamine  County,  the  first  Methodist  school  of 
the  West.  He  subsequently  conducted  a  similar  institution  at 
Harrodsburgh,  and,  finally,  located  in  Logan  County,  where 
he  lived  on  a  small  farm  about  three  miles  from  Eussellville. 
He  devoted  himself  to  education,  and  was  esteemed  one  of  the 
best  instructors  in  the  West.  Meanwhile  he  preached  power- 
fully, not  merely  in  his  own  vicinity,  but  often  in  extensive 
excursions  through  the  State,  and  at  quarterly  meetings  and 
camp-meetings.  He  was  venerated  as  a  saint  for  his  singular 
piety ;  and  it  is  probable  that  no  man  of  his  day  wielded,  in 
the  West,  greater  power  in  the  pulpit.  In  1819  he  was  im- 
pressed with  the  thought  that  his  end  was  near.  He  wished 
once  more  to  visit  some  of  his  old  fields,  and  "return 
home  and  arrange  his  affairs  for  an  early  departure  to  his 
inheritance  above."  He  went  preaching  through  Kentucky, 
parts  of  Ohio,  and  his  old  battle  grounds  in  Pennsylvania. 
Passing  on  to  Pittsburgh,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  he  reached 
Baltimore,  where  he  spent  some  time  preaching  "  to  vast 
crowds,"  and  "scores  and  hundreds  were  converted  through 
his  instrumentality."  He  returned  through  the  Greenbrier 
country  of  the  Alleghanies,  visiting  his  early  friends,  kneeling 
at  the  graves  of  his  parents,  giving  his  finaj.  warnings  to  the 
people,  and  re-entered  his  home  in  Kentucky  singing  a  tri- 
umphant hymn.  He  settled  his  temporal  affairs,  and  in  the 
ensuing  year  died,  uttering,  as  his  last  words,  "  When  I  think 

26 


402  HISTORY  OF    THE 

of  Jesus,  and  of  living  with  him  forever,  I  am  so  filled  with 
the  love  of  God,  that  I  scarcely  know  whether  I  am  in  the 
body  or  out  of  the  body." 

Good  Henry  Smith,  whom  we  have  so  often  met,  was  still 
braving  the  frontier  trials  of  Kentucky.  In  1798  he  was  under 
Poythress  and  Bird  on  Green  Circuit,  within  the  Holston 
District,  and  the  next  year  reached  Ohio,  where  he  meets 
again  his  old  friend,  M'Cormick,  and  whither  we  shall  soon 
follow  him. 

In  1799  the  whole  field,  Holston,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee, 
and  a  Circuit  in  Ohio,  was  one  immense  District  under  Poy- 
thress, with  an  apostolic  band  of  twelve  preachers,  including 
such  men  as  Burke,  Kobler,  Smith,  and  Sale.  John  Sale  was 
one  of  the  most  heroic  evangelists  and  founders  of  western 
Methodism,  though  only  five  lines  are  given  to  his  memory  in 
the  official  Minutes,  and  we  know  not  the  precise  place  of  his 
birth.  During  four  years  he  labored  indefatigably  in  the  Hol- 
ston Mountains  and  among  the  Kentucky  settlements.  In 
1803  he  passed  into  the  Northwestern  Territory,  and  now,  for 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  more,  he  alternates  between 
Ohio  and  Kentucky,  a  successful  circuit  preacher,  a  command- 
ing presiding  elder.  Worn  out  by  his  ministerial  labors,  he 
fell  at  last  in  his  work,  in  1827,  crowned  with  the  veneration 
of  the  Church,  and  exclaiming,  "  My  last  battle  is  fought,  and 
victory  sure  !  halleluiah  !  "  Judge  M'Lean  says,  "  I  have 
sometimes  heard  him,  when,  rising  with  the  dignity  and  in  the 
fullness  of  his  subject,  he  seemed  to  me  one  of  the  noblest 
personifications  of  the  eloquence  of  the  pulpit." 

The  year  1800  was  signalized  in  western  Methodist  history 
by  the  appearance  of  William  M'Kendree  at  the  head  of  the 
pioneer  itinerants.  Poythress,  hitherto  its  chief  representative 
man,  was  beginning  to  totter  in  both  mind  and  body,  and  it 
now  needed  an  able  commander.  Few  of  the  early  itinerants 
did  more  to  lay  the  foundations  of  the  Church  both  east  and 
west  of  the  Mountains  than  Poythress.  He  was  one  of  the  most 
zealous  laborers  for  its  educational  interests,  and  fell  a  martyr 
to  his  devotion  to  that  cause.  He  was  the  chief  founder  of  the 
first  Methodistic  seminary  in  the  West — the  Bethel  Academy, 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  403 

in  Jessamine  County,  Ky.  Its  edifice  was  a  large  brick  struc- 
ture of  two  stories,  and  it  had  incurred  a  considerable  debt, 
which  weighed  down  his  noble  mind  till  it  sunk  in  ruins.  All 
efforts  of  himself,  Valentine  Cook,  and  other  colaborers,  to  re- 
trieve the  institution  failed,  and  Poythress  lingered  a  wreck, 
like  his  favorite  project.  We  have  seen  M'Kendree  tending 
westward  for  some  years  among  the  mountain  appointments 
of  Western  Virginia,  and  witnessed  his  departure  on  his  trans- 
montane  route  with  Asbury  and  Whatcoat,  without  his 
"  money,  books,  or  clothes."  They  passed  over  the  mountains, 
down  the  Holston  River,  into  Tennessee,  into  the  valley  of 
Church  Eiver,  where,  reaching  a  "  station  "  on  the  outskirts  of 
the  settlements,  they  combined  with  other  travelers  to  form  a 
company,  and,  on  the  27th  of  September,  1800,  began  their 
course  direct  to  Kentucky.  Wearied  and  sick,  they  reached 
Bethel  Academy,  Jessamine  County,  and  there  held  the 
Western  Conference  in  the  first  week  of  October,  the  first  ses- 
sion of  that  body  of  which  there  remains  any  correct  record. 
Ten  traveling  preachers  were  present,  including  Asbury  and 
Whatcoat;  the  session  lasted  but  two  days;  two  candidates 
were  admitted  on  probation,  one  member  located,  fourteen 
local  and  four  traveling  preachers  were  ordained. 

After  the  session  Asbury,  Whatcoat,  and  M'Kendree  trav- 
eled and  preached  together,  from  the  center  of  Kentucky  to 
Nashville,  in  Tennessee,  and  thence  to  Knoxville,  where  they 
parted,  M'Kendree  returning  to  his  great  District,  which  com- 
prised thirteen  Circuits,  over  which  he  went  preaching  night 
and  day  with  an  ardor  befitting  so  grand  a  sphere,  and  such 
sublime  results  as  he  could  justly  anticipate  for  the  rising  com- 
monwealths around  him,  whose  moral  foundations  Methodism 
was  now  effectively  laying.  An  extraordinary  religious  ex- 
citement spread  over  all  the  country.  It  was  largely  attribu- 
table to  the  introduction  of  camp-meetings  at  this  time — a  pro- 
vision which,  however  questionable  in  dense  communities, 
seemed  providentially  suited  to  these  sparsely  settled  regions. 
In  the  latter  part  of  1799,  John  and  William  Magee,  who  were 
brothers,  the  first  a  Methodist  local  preacher,  the  second  a 
Presbyterian  minister,  started  from  their  settlement  in  Tennes- 


404  HISTORY    OF    THE 

see  to  make  a  preaching  tour  into  Kentucky.  Their  first 
labors  were  with  a  Presbyterian  Church  on  Ked  Biver,  where 
remarkable  effects  attended  their  labors,  and  excited  such 
general  interest  that,  at  their  next  meeting,  on  Muddy  Biver, 
many  distant  families  came  with  wagons  and  camped  in  the 
woods.  This  was,  in  fact,  the  beginning  of  religious  "  camp- 
meetings  "  in  the  United  States.  They  soon  became  general 
through  all  the  Western  Territories,  and,  at  last,  throughout 
the  nation  and  Upper  Canada.  Ten,  twenty,  or  more  thou- 
sands attended  them,  devoting  usually  a  week  exclusively  to 
religious  exercises,  living  in  tents  or  booths,  which  were  ar- 
ranged in  circles  around  a  rude  pulpit  or  platform,  and  were 
illuminated  at  night  by  torches  or  pine-knots,  and  governed  by 
prescribed  rules  and  a  temporary  police.  They  soon  bore  the 
name  of  "general  camp-meetings"  from  their  catholic  char- 
acter, as  combining  all  sects.  As  they  were  Presbyterian  as 
well  as,  or  even  more  than,  Methodist,  in  their  origin,  Pres- 
byterian clergymen  were  generally  active  in  them.  A  great 
one  was  held  in  Cambridge,  seven  miles  from  Paris,  Ely.,  soon 
after  their  introduction,  which  produced  a  general  sensation; 
thousands  of  persons  were  present  from  all  parts  of  the  state, 
and  even  from  Ohio ;  it  continued  a  we^k.  Hundreds  fell  to 
the  earth  as  dead  men  under  the  preaching.  At  another,  held 
at  Cobbin  Creek,  Ky.,  twenty  thousand  were  present;  thou- 
sands fell  as  slain  in  battle,  and  the  religious  interest  of  the 
whole  State  seemed  to  be  quickened  by  its  results.  Astonish- 
ing effects  attended  another  on  Desher's  Creek,  near  Cumber- 
land Kiver ;  "  the  people  fell  under  the  power  of  the  word  like 
corn  before  a  storm  of  wind." 

M'Kendree,  as  he  passed  over  his  vast  District,  promoted 
these  meetings,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  Methodist  itin- 
erants were  thus  making  their  word  resound  in  all  parts  of  the 
State.  New  Societies  were  abundantly  organized,  and  the 
Church  assumed  unprecedented  vigor.  At  the  close  of  his 
second  year  on  the  Districts  even  new  Circuits  had  been  formed, 
and  the  one  District  was  divided  into  three.  The  mere  hand- 
ful of  members,  scattered  here  and  there  in  the  settlements, 
now  numbered  at  least  eight  thousand,  having  increased  more 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  405 

than  five  thousand  in  the  last  two  years.  The  little  Confer- 
ence of  twelve  members  had  more  than  doubled  its  numbers. 
Much  of  the  impetus  which  had  been  given  to  the  Western 
work  was  through  the  preaching  and  superior  wisdom  of 
M'Kendree  as  the  presiding  elder. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  characters  in  Methodist  biog- 
raphy was  recorded  in  the  appointments  of  1802,  Jacob 
Young,  a  man  of  such  evangelical  simplicity  and  purity,  such 
good  sense  in  counsel,  and  perspicuity  and  pertinence  in 
speech,  so  entertaining  in  conversation,  and  of  such  cordiality 
of  manners,  and  saintliness  of  character,  that  the  most  obsti- 
nate opposers  and  most  fastidious  critics  were  won  by  him, 
notwithstanding  the  faithfulness  of  his  admonitions,  and  some 
obvious  defects  made  the  more  obnoxious  to  criticism  by  the 
peculiar  recitative  tone  of  his  preaching.  He  survived  far  into 
our  day,  not  only  revered  by,  but  endeared  to,  all  who  knew 
him,  by  the  peculiar  charm  of  his  character,  as  well  as  by  his 
long  and  faithful  public  services. 

-  In  1802  a  very  striking  appointment  appears  on  the  roll  of 
the  Western  Conference,  that  of  "  Natchez,"  with  the  solitary 
name  of  Tobias  Gibson  attached  as  preacher.  Natchez,  how- 
ever, was  obscurely  recorded,  with  Gibson's  name,  two  years 
earlier,  as  on  the  Georgia  District,  which  fact  only  made  the 
record  appear  the  more  extraordinary,  for  the  immense  terri- 
tories which  are  now  the  two  large  States  of  Alabama  and 
Mississippi,  lay  between  Georgia  and  this  point  on  the  Missis- 
sippi River.  The  remote  appointment  appeared  as  a  new 
sign  in  the  far-off  southern  heavens ;  to  the  pioneer  preachers 
of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  it  was  as  the  constellation  of  the 
cross  to  mariners  in  the  Southern  Seas.  It  opened  a  boundless 
prospect  of  progress;  and  the  word  Natchez  sounded  like  a 
new  order  of  march  to  the  itinerants  and  their  cause — that 
march  which  they  have  since  made  over  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
Texas,  even  to  the  Pacific  boundary  of  California.  Tobias 
Gibson  was  worthy  of  the  pioneer  mission,  and  was  soon 
worthily  to  fall  a  martyr  to  his  heroism,  but  not  without  open- 
ing the  way,  never  to  be  closed,  for  the  southwestern  triumphs 
of  the  Church.     He  was  a  saintly  man,  of  vigorous  intellect, 


406  HISTOKY    OF   THE 

"greatly  given  to  reading,  meditation,  and  prayer;"  very 
"  affectionate  and  agreeable "  in  his  manners.  In  1799,  after 
eight  years'  travel  on  southeastern  Circuits,  he  volunteered  to 
go  to  the  distant  southern  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  though  he 
was  already  broken  in  health  by  excessive  labors  and  priva- 
tions. With  the  approval  of  Asbury  he  started  alone,  and 
made  his  way  on  horseback  to  the  Cumberland  Eiver,  in  Ken- 
tucky, traveling  hundreds  of  miles  through  the  wilderness, 
mostly  along  Indian  trails.  At  the  Cumberland  he  sold  his 
horse,  bought  a  canoe,  and,  putting  his  saddle-bags  and  a  few 
other  effects  upon  it,  paddled  down  the  river  into  the  Ohio, 
and  thence,  six  or  eight  hundred  miles,  down  the  Mississippi 
to  his  destination,  where  he  immediately  began  his  labors, 
eighteen  years  before  the  Mississippi  Territory  became  a  State 
of  the  Union.  Four  times  he  went  through  the  wilderness, 
six  hundred  miles,  among  "Indian  nations  and  guides,"  to 
the  Cumberland,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  additional 
laborers  from  the  Western  Conference.  In  1803  he  presented 
himself  before  that  body  a  broken-down  hero,  and,  though 
needing  recruits  themselves,  they  spared  him  Moses  Floyd, 
for  the  solitary  veteran  had  gathered  more  than  fourscore 
(87)  members  at  Natchez,  and  the  whole  country  was  ready 
for  the  Gospel.  By  the  next  Conference  there  were  more 
than  a  hundred  Methodists  reported  from  it,  and  Hezekiah 
Harriman  and  Abraham  Amos  were  sent  to  aid  the  two 
evangelists;  but  the  apostle  of  the  little  band  was  about  to 
fall  at  his  post;  he  had  overworked.  Harriman  made  his 
way  thither  through  "  thirteen  days  and  twelve  nights'  toil  in 
the  wilderness,"  and  soon  witnessed  a  "revival"  and  formed 
the  Washington  Circuit ;  but  he  wrote  back  that  Gibson  was 
sinking;  "his  legs  were  swelled  up  to  his  knees,"  he  had 
"  violent  cough,"  and  had  not  been  able  to  preach  for  months. 
"Tell  my  dear  brethren,  the  young  preachers,"  adds  Harri- 
man, "  not  to  be  afraid  of  this  place,  for  God  is  here,  and  souls 
have  been  converted  this  winter  in  public  and  private,  and 
others  are  inquiring  the  way  to  heaven.  Here  are  also  a 
great  many  souls  that  must  die  like  heathens,  except  they  are 
visited  by  faithful  ministers  of  the  Gospel.     My  hope  revives 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  407 

that  God  will  pour  his  Spirit  on  us  more  abundantly,  and  that 
our  brethren  will  come  and  help  us."  Twenty  days  later 
Harriman  wrote,  "Brother  Gibson  has  gone  to  his  long 
home."  He  preached  his  last  sermon  on  New  Year's  Day, 
1804,  "and  it  was  profitable  to  many  souls."  After  having 
suffered  for  three  years  with  consumption,  he  "  was  seized  with 
fever  and  vomited  blood."  He  died  in  Claiborne  County,  on 
the  5th  of  April,  1804.  He  had  "  continued  to  labor  in  the 
vineyard  of  the  Lord  as  long  as  he  was  able  to  preach  or 
pray,"  and  declared  to  his  fellow-laborer  that  "he  was  not 
afraid  to  meet  death,"  and  "wished  for  the  hour."  His 
brethren,  in  the  old  Minutes,  1805,  commemorate  him  with 
admiration,  and  say,  "  When  Elijah  was  taken  away  there  was 
an  Elisha:  we  have  two  valuable  men  that  will  supply  his 
place;  but  still  Gibson  opened  the  way;  like  a  Brainerd  he 
labored  and  fainted  not,  nor  dared  to  leave  his  station  till 
death  gave  him  an  honorable  discharge."  In  the  autumn  of 
the  year  of  his  death  Earner  Blackman,  one  of  the  noblest 
itinerants  of  the  West,  went  to  take  his  place,  and  a  succession 
of  evangelists  followed  till  Methodism  spread  out  over  all  the 
country. 

Of  Earner  Blackman  we  have  had  a  transient  glimpse,  in 
New  Jersey,  his  native  State,  where  John  Collins,  his  brother- 
in-law,  and  afterward  his  colaborer  in  the  West,  was  guiding 
him  in  his  early  religious  life.  He  now,  and  for  some  years, 
becomes  almost  ubiquitous  in  Western  Methodism,  south  of 
the  Ohio.  After  itinerating,  with  much  success,  three  years 
in  Kentucky,  he  was  sent  in  1804  to  take  the  place  of  Gibson. 
After  a  journey  of  ten  or  eleven  days,  and  lying  out  as  many 
nights,  making  his  saddle-bags  his  pillow,  his  blanket  and 
cloak  his  bed,  the  heavens  his  covering,  the  God  of  Israel  his 
defense,  he  arrived  safe  in  the  territory.  At  the  time  of  his 
arrival  Methodism  was  in  its  infancy  in  that  country.  In 
1806  he  was  appointed  to  preside  in  the  Mississippi  District : 
God  honored  his  ministrations  with  success,  sinners  were  con- 
verted, and  chapels  were  built  and  dedicated.  When  he  left 
the  Southwest  it  had  a  large  District,  five  Circuits,  six  preach- 
ers, and  more  than  four  hundred  (415)  members.     Eeturning 


408  HISTORY    OF    THE 

to  Tennessee  he  labored  faithfully  on  various  Circuits  and 
Districts  till  1815,  when,  crossing  the  Ohio  in  a  ferry-boat,  his 
horse  was  frightened  and  threw  him  into  the  river,  where  he 
perished,  "  an  event  which  caused  the  heart  of  the  whole 
Church  to  throb  with  sadness."  He  ranks  as  one  of  the  great 
men  of  early  Methodism.  "  He  had  the  appearance,  both  in 
and  out  of  the  pulpit,"  says  a  contemporary  authority,  "  of 
being  quite  a  cultivated  man."  In  stature  he  was  about  the 
middle  height,  well-formed,  with  a  full  face,  and  an  eye  which 
shone  with  the  light  of  genius.  Every  feature  became  strik- 
ingly expressive  while  he  was  preaching  or  conversing. 

While  the  range  of  Western  Methodism  was  thus  extending 
southward,  it  was  also  advancing  in  the  opposite  direction  into 
the  great  Northwestern  Territory.  We  have  traced  its  intro- 
duction and  first  movements  there  under  the  agency  of  M'Cor- 
mick.  Repeatedly  did  this  faithful  local  preacher  go  over  to 
Kentucky  to  solicit  itinerants  from  the  Conference,  but  none 
could  yet  be  spared  from  their  urgent  work.  Meanwhile  lay- 
men like  himself  were  planting  the  Church.  He  met  in 
Kentucky  Ezekiel  Dimmitt,  a  young  emigrant  from  Berkeley 
County,  Va.,  where  he  had  been  received  into  the  Church  by 
Joshua  Wells.  M'Cormick  urged  him  to  move  into  the  North- 
western Territory,  and  help  to  found  Methodism  and  a  new 
State  there.  Dimmitt,  full  of  religious  and  patriotic  ardor, 
went  in  1797,  and  built  his  cabin  on  the  east  fork  of  the  Little 
Miami,  not  far  below  the  present  town  of  Batavia.  He  became 
a  powerful  coadjutor  with  M'Cormick.  At  last  M'Cormick's 
appeal  to  the  Conference  was  answered  by  the  mission  of  Ko- 
bler,  who,  on  the  2d  of  August,  1798,  "  preached  the  first  ser- 
mon delivered  in  the  Territory  by  a  regularly  constituted  Meth- 
odist missionary."  We  have  from  Kobler's  own  pen  an  allusion 
to  his  expedition.  In  passing  through  the  country  he  found  it 
in  its  almost  native,  uncultivated  state.  The  inhabitants  were 
settled  in  small  neighborhoods,  few  and  far  between,  with  lit- 
tle or  no  improvement  about  them.  Ko  house  of  worship  had 
been  yet  erected.  The  site  on  which  Cincinnati  now  stands 
was  a  dense  forest,  no  improvement  was  to  be  seen  but  Fort 
Washington,  which  was  built  on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  and  ex- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  409 

tended  down  to  the  margin  of  the  river  ;  around  it  were  cabins, 
in  which  resided  the  first  settlers  of  the  place.  When  he 
crossed  the  Ohio  in  1798,  "  at  a  little  village  called  Columbia," 
he  fell  upon  his  knees  upon  the  shore,  and  prayed  for  the 
divine  blessing  upon  his  mission.  "  That  evening,"  he  writes, 
"  I  reached  the  house  of  Francis  M'Cormick.  He  lived  ten  or 
fifteen  miles  from  Columbia,  on  the  bank  of  the  Little  Miami 
Kiver.  On  Thursday,  August  2,  I  preached  at  his  house  to  a 
tolerable  congregation  on  Acts  xvi,  9 :  'And  a  vision  appeared 
to  Paul  in  the  night :  there  stood  a  man  of  Macedonia  and 
prayed  him,  saying,  Come  over  into  Macedonia  and  help  us.' 
It  was  a  time  of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  who 
gave  testimony  to  the  word  of  his  grace.  The  little  band  was 
much  rejoiced  at  my  arrival  among  them,  together  with  the 
prospect  of  having  circuit  preaching  and  all  the  privileges 
and  ordinances  of  our  Church."  His  first  Circuit  embraced 
about  one  half  the  territory  now  included  in  the  Cincinnati 
Conference.  After  seeing  Methodism  well  established  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  Little  Miami,  M'Cormick  once  more  changed 
his  location,  and  settled  in  Hamilton  County,  about  ten  miles 
east  of  Cincinnati.  A  class  was  soon  formed,  and  the  neigh- 
borhood supplied  with  regular  circuit  preaching,  M'Cormick 
pushing  out  in  all  directions  to  open  the  way  for  the  itinerants. 
This  class  was  the  beginning  of  what  has  been  long  and  widely 
known  as  the  '  Salem  Society,'  and  in  early  times  became  iden- 
tified with  the  old  White  Oak  Circuit,  from  the  bounds  of 
which  nearly  fifty  preachers  have  been  raised  up  for  the  regular 
work  of  the  Methodist  ministry." 

Kobler  labored  and  traveled  night  and  day  in  the  Territory 
for  about  nine  months.  He  continued  in  the  itinerancy  till 
1819,  when  he  located ;  but  the  Baltimore  Conference,  without 
his  solicitation,  put  his  name  upon  its  honored  roll  of  superan- 
nuated preachers  in  1836.  He  died  in  Fredericksburgh,  Ya., 
in  1843,  aged  74  years.  His  last  words  were,  "  Come,  Lord 
Jesus  I  come,  Lord  Jesus,  in  power !  come  quickly  ! " 

On  Kobler's  return  to  Kentucky  Lewis  Hunt  was  sent  to 
the  Territory,  and  in  1799  the  Miami  Circuit,  the  first  Method- 
ist appointment  in  Ohio,  appears  in  the  Minutes,  with  the 


410  HISTORY    OF   THE 

name  of  Henry  Smith  as  preacher.  Dimmitt's  house  was  on 
Hunt's  Circuit,  and  was  made  a  preaching  place ;  it  was  a 
cabin  about  sixteen  feet  square.  Smith  went  on  laboring  un- 
ceasingly over  his  long  Circuit,  preaching  twenty  sermons  every 
three  weeks,  and  organizing  small  Societies  in  almost  every 
settlement,  for  he  found  emigrant  Methodists  nearly  every- 
where. 

Meanwhile  an  important  acquisition  was  made  by  the  strug- 
gling Society  in  the  arrival  on  the  scene  of  one  of  our  earliest 
and  most  interesting  heroes.  Philip  Gatch  emigrated,  with 
his  family,  to  the  Miami  region,  and  appeared  there  but  a  few 
months  after  the  coming  of  Kobler.  He  was  born,  as  we  have 
noticed,  in  the  same  year,  and  began  to  preach  as  early,  as 
William  "Watters,  who  worthily  ranks  as  the  first  native  Meth- 
odist preacher  of  the  United  States,  having  anticipated  Gatch 
a  short  time  on  the  records  of  the  Conference.  But  Gatch 
was  more  conspicuous  than  Watters  for  his  sufferings  and  activ- 
ity in  the  early  history  of  the  denomination.  We  have  seen 
him,  after  his  marriage,  locate,  but  continue  his  labors,  in  Vir- 
ginia. In  1798  he  started  for  the  West.  He  was  now  a  neigh- 
bor of  and  a  coworker  with  M'Cormick,  and  his  home  became 
a  "  preaching  place  "  and  a  shelter  for  the  itinerants.  Most  of 
his  children  were  here  gathered  into  the  Church.  Kobler,  who 
had  known  him  in  the  East,  was  delighted  to  meet  him.  For 
the  remainder  of  his  life  he  was  a  representative  man  of  his 
Church  in  Ohio,  preaching  often,  and  promoting  zealously  its 
rising  interests.  He  was  made  a  magistrate,  was  a  delegate 
to  the  convention  which  formed  the  Constitution  of  the  State, 
and  was  appointed  by  the  Legislature  an  Associate  Judge. 
He  became  a  most  influential  citizen,  a  patriarch  of  the  Com- 
monwealth as  well  as  of  the  Church.  Asbury,  Whatcoat,  and 
M'Kendree  were  often  his  guests,  and  his  old  eastern  fellow- 
laborers,  Watters,  Dromgoole,  and  others,  cheered  him  with 
letters.  After  invaluable  services  to  his  Church  and  country, 
he  preached  his  last  sermon  on  the  day  in  which  he  was  eighty- 
four  years  old,  and  died  the  next  year  (1835)  "  in  great  peace 
and  unshaken  confidence  in  Christ."  His  old  friend,  Kobler, 
revisited  the  country  six  years  after  his  death.     u  Taking  my 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  411 

hand,"  writes  a  son  of  Gatch,  "  he  held  it  for  some  time  in 
silence,  looking  me  in  the  face  with  a  most  impressive  expres- 
sion of  countenance,  which  produced  in  me  a  sensation  that  I 
shall  not  attempt  to  describe.  At  length,  in  the  most  emphatic 
manner,  he  said,  '  Your  father  was  a  great  man  in  his  day. 
He  fought  many  hard  battles  for  the  Church.  May  you  be  a 
worthy  son  of  so  worthy  a  father ! '  He  visited  the  graves  of 
my  parents,  took  off  his  hat,  and  stood  some  minutes  as  if  ab- 
sorbed in  deep  thought;  fell  upon  his  knees  for  some  time, 
arose  bathed  in  tears,  and  walked  out  of  the  grave  yard  in 
silence."  He  was  burdened  with  great  memories,  for  the  two 
veterans  had  shared  in  events  which  history,  ages  to  come,  may 
commemorate. 

M'Cormick,  Gatch,  Tiffin,  Scott,  laymen  and  local  preachers, 
with  not  a  few  others  of  like  spirit,  gave  a  character  and  im- 
pulse to  Methodism  in  Ohio,  to  which  must  be  ascribed  much 
of  its  subsequent  power  over  all  the  old  Northwestern  Terri- 
tory. M'Cormick  lived  and  died  in  a  manner  worthy  of  his 
historical  position.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  was  absolved 
from  active  service  by  maladies  which  were  the  effects  of  the 
exposures  and  fatigues  of  his  early  preaching,  but  "  the  even- 
ing of  his  days  was  cloudless."  He  died  in  1836,  and  his  last 
words  were,  "  Glory,  honor,  immortality,  and  eternal  life ! " 

John  Sale,  from  whom  we  have  recently  parted,  was  sent  to 
the  Scioto  Circuit  in  1803.  The  next  year  he  was  appointed, 
says  his  biographer,  to  Miami  Circuit.  These  two  circuits  then 
embraced  all  the  south  and  west  portions  of  the  State  of  Ohio. 
It  was  while  traveling  these  regions  that  he  organized  the  first 
Society  of  Methodists  in  Cincinnati.  Kobler  had  visited  it  in 
1798  ;  he  describes  it  as  "  an  old  garrison,  (Fort  Washington,) 
a  declining,  time-stricken,  God-forsaken  place."  He  wished  to 
preach,  but  "  could  find  no  opening  or  reception  of  any  kind 
whatever."  Lewis  Hunt  and  Elisha  Bowman  occasionally 
ventured  into  the  demoralized  scene,  and  preached  without  re- 
sult. In  1804  John  Collins,  who  had  come  the  year  before  to 
the  Territory,  but  was  not  yet  in  the  itinerancy,  went  to  it  to 
purchase  provisions.  He  inquired  of  a  storekeeper,  "  Is  there 
any  Methodists  here  I "     "  Yes,  sir,"  was  the  reply ;  "  I  am  a 


412  HISTORY   OF    THE 

Methodist."  The  local  preacher  was  taken  by  surprise  at  the 
joyful  intelligence,  and,  throwing  his  arms  around  the  lay- 
man's neck,  he  wept.  He  eagerly  inquired  if  there  were  any 
more  Methodists  in  the  place.  The  response  was  equally 
cheering ,  "  O  yes,  brother,  there  are  several."  The  heart  of 
Collins  leaped  for  joy.  "  O,"  said  the  zealous  young  preacher, 
"  that  I  could  have  them  all  together !  "  u  In  this  you  shall 
be  gratified,  my  brother,"  rejoined  the  layman ;  "  I  will  open 
my  house,  and  call  together  the  people,  if  you  will  preach." 
The  upper  room  of  Carter's  (the  merchant's  house)  was  fitted 
with  temporary  benches,  while  every  effort  possible  was  made 
to  give  the  appointment  an  extensive  circulation.  Only  twelve 
persons  attended,  but  "  it  was  a  memorable  time  for  Methodism 
in  Cincinnati.  It  was  the  planting  of  a  handful  of  corn  on  the 
tops  of  the  mountains,  the  increasing  and  ever-multiplying 
products  of  which  were  to  shake  like  Lebanon."  The  next 
sermon  to  this  infant  Church  was  by  Sale,  in  a  house  in 
Main-street,  between  First  and  Second  streets.  The  con- 
gregation was  increased  to  thirty  or  forty  persons.  After 
preaching,  a  Society  was  organized,  and  arrangements  were 
made  to  have  services  regularly  every  two  weeks  by  the  cir- 
cuit evangelists.  In  1805  the  small  Society  began  to  build 
their  first  church,  the  "  Old  Stone  Chapel."  Such  was  the 
humble  origin  of  Methodism  in  Cincinnati. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  note  that  it  was,  during 
these  times,  invading  Ohio  from  the  East  as  well  as  from  the 
South,  by  the  labors  of  Robert  Manly.  Jesse  Stoneman  fol- 
lowed him,  and  so  enlarged  the  field,  that  Quinn  and  Shinn 
kept  pace  with  the  settlements  extending  back  and  up  to  Lake 
Erie,  giving  rise  to  scores  of  Circuits.  Meanwhile,  from  the 
home  of  Roberts,  in  the  Chenango  and  Erie  regions,  the  itiner- 
ants made  their  way  across  the  line,  and  Deerfield,  in  Portage 
County,  is  reported  in  the  Minutes  of  1803,  with  Shadrach 
Bostwick  as  its  "missionary."  Henry  Shewel,  a  local  preach- 
er from  Yirginia,  had  preceded  him,  as  we  have  recorded,  and 
as  early  as  1801  a  small  Society  had  spontaneously  organized 
in  Deerfield.  Methodism  was,  then,  fully  on  its  march  into  the 
Northwestern  Territory,  at  nearly  every  accessible  point,  by 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  413 

the  close  of  our  present  period.  It  had  not  only  invaded  Ohio, 
but  reached  hopefully -beyond  it.  As  early  as  1802  Methodist 
preachers  ventured  within  the  present  limits  of  Indiana,  which 
then  had  but  a  few  scattered  settlers.  Its  first  Methodist  was 
Nathan  Robertson,  who  moved  from  Kentucky  to  Charleston 
in  1799 ;  three  years  later  a  small  class  was  organized  at  Gass- 
away,  near  Charleston,  in  Clark  County.  The  first  chapel  of 
the  denomination  in  the  State  still  stands,  about  two  miles  from 
Charleston ;  it  was  made  of  hewed  logs.  By  1807  we  shall 
find  in  the  State  one  Circuit,  with  one  preacher  and  sixty-seven 
members ;  and  by  1810,  three  Circuits,  four  preachers,  and  seven 
hundred  and  sixty  members,  the  beginning  of  that  great  host, 
which  is  now  a  hundred  thousand  strong,  led  by  four  hundred 
itinerants.  Before  the  close  of  our  period  Benjamin  Young, 
brother  of  Jacob  Young,  was  dispatched  (1804)  as  a  missionary 
to  Illinois,  which  had  but  about  two  hundred  and  fifteen  in- 
habitants in  1800,  and  was  not  admitted  as  a  State  of  the 
Union  till  fourteen  years  after  Young's  appointment.  In  the 
first  year  he  returned  sixty-seven  Church  members  from  its 
sparse  population.  Methodism  had  already  attempted  to  erect 
its  standard  as  far  north  as  Michigan.  In  1803  a  local 
preacher  by  the  name  of  Freeman  found  his  way  far  into  the 
country,  and  preached  at  Detroit,  where  he  left  at  least  one 
awakened  soul  who  welcomed  his  successors.  In  1804  Nathan 
Bangs  passed  over  from  Canada  and  sounded  the  alarm  in 
Detroit,  though  without  apparent  success ;  the  place,  woefully 
depraved  with  a  conglomerate  population  of  Indians,  French, 
and  immigrants,  was  subsequently  invaded  again,  from  Canada, 
by  William  Case,  and  soon  after  an  Irish  local  preacher,  Will- 
iam Mitchell,  organized  the  first  Methodist  Society  in  the  city, 
the  first  in  the  State.  Methodism  was  never  again  totally 
dislodged  from  Michigan,  though  its  progress  was  slow,  and 
no  Protestant  Church  of  any  denomination  was  erected  within 
its  bounds  till  1818. 

Asbury  made  five  expeditions  to  the  West  in  these  eight 
years,  though  his  health  was  more  enfeebled,  during  most  of 
this  period,  than  in  any  other  portion  of  his  public  life.  His 
hardships  were  incredible.     On  recrossing  the  mountains,  to- 


414  HISTORY   OF    THE 

ward  the  end  of  the  period,  he  writes :  "  Once  more  I  have 
escaped  from  filth,  fleas,  rattlesnakes,  hills,  mountains,  rocks, 
and  rivers :  farewell,  western  world,  for  a  while  ! "  In  his 
habits  of  dress,  manners,  and  all  things,  he  was  neat  almost  to 
precision ;  no  one  could  be  more  at  home  than  he  in  the  opulent 
circles  of  Perry  and  Rembert  Halls,  the  mansions  of  Russell,  Bas- 
sett,  and  Lippett ;  but  his  preachers  were  suffering  bravely  the 
hardships  of  the  frontier,  and,  if  his  presence  was  not  absolutely 
necessary  for  their  ecclesiastical  affairs,  still  he  willingly  shared 
their  trials  for  the  moral  advantage  of  his  example.  Under  its 
influences  some  of  the  noblest  men  of  the  ministry  plunged  into 
these  wildernesses  to  build  up  their  Christian  civilization.  His 
example  was  hardly  less  important  than  his  administrative 
ability  in  these  early  days  of  his  Church. 

There  were,  in  1804,  nearly  eleven  thousand  nine  hundred 
(11,877)  Methodists,  and  nearly  fifty  (46)  preachers,  reported 
in  the  Western  Conference.  It  comprised  four  Districts  and 
twenty-five  Circuits.  These  statistics  do  not  include,  however, 
all  the  growing  Societies  of  Western  Pennsylvania  and  West- 
ern Virginia,  which  have  been  comprised  in  this  survey  of 
Western  Methodism,  for,  in  defining  the  West,  I  have  regarded 
neither  Conference  nor  State  lines,  but  the  natural  geograph- 
ical boundaries  of  the  country.  The  Monongahela  and  Green- 
brier Districts,  had  now  nearly  three  thousand  five  hundred 
(3,438)  Methodists  and  twenty-six  preachers  on  fourteen  Cir- 
cuits. These,  added  to  the  statistics  of  the  Western  Confer- 
ence, would  give  the  denomination,  west  of  the  mountains,  six 
Districts,  thirty-nine  Circuits,  seventy-two  preachers,  and  more 
than  fifteen  thousand  three  hundred  (15,315)  members;  an  esti- 
mate which  still  leaves  out  many  Methodists  beyond  the  Blue 
Ridge.  It  shows,  however,  remarkable  prosperity  for  a  newly 
and  sparsely  settled  country.  The  Church  had  now  been 
planted  in  Ohio,  Illinois,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Mississippi, 
and  Methodist  itinerants  were  preaching  the  Gospel  from  Pitts- 
burgh to  Natchez.  Western  Methodism  had  gained  in  these  last 
eight  years  two  Districts,  sixteen  Circuits,  thirty-six  preachers, 
and  about  eight  thousand  eight  hundred  members.  It  wit- 
nessed already  the  presage  of  its  later  unparalleled  triumphs. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  415 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

GENERAL   CONFERENCES  OF   1800  AND    1804  —  REVIEW. 

Two  more  General  Conferences  pertain  to  our  present  period, 
the  sessions  of  1800  and  1804.  The  former  began  at  Balti- 
more on  Tuesday,  May  6,  1800.  Its  published  journals  give 
no  roll  of  its  members,  and  the  briefest  possible  outline  of  its 
proceedings  ;  but,  happily,  a  spectator  of  the  occasion  (Henry 
Boehm)  has  recorded  some  account  of  it.  He  says :  "  It  was 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  in  the  history  of  our  Church. 
The  revival  at  that  time  was  the  greatest  that  has  ever  oc- 
curred at  the  session  of  any  General  Conference.  The  great- 
est displays  of  divine  power,  and  the  most  conversions,  were  in 
private  houses,  in  prayer-meetings.  And  yet  the  preaching 
was  highly  honored  of  God,  for  the  ministers  were  endued 
with  power  from  on  high.  The  strong  men  of  Methodism 
were  there,  and  such  a  noble  class  of  men  I  had  never  beheld. 
There  were  Philip  Bruce,  Jesse  Lee,  George  Roberts,  John 
Bloodgood,  William  P.  Chandler,  John  M'Claskey,  Ezekiel 
Cooper,  Nicholas  Snethen,  Thomas  Morrell,  Joseph  Totten, 
Lawrence  M'Combs,  Thomas  F.  Sargent,  William  Burke, 
William  M'Kendree,  and  others.  They  elected  Richard 
Whatcoat  bishop,  he  having  a  majority  of  four  votes  over 
Jesse  Lee.  Sunday,  the  18th,  was  a  great  day.  The  ordina- 
tion sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  Thomas  Coke,  LL.D.,  in 
Light-street  Church.  Crowds  at  an  early  hour  thronged  the 
temple.  The  doctor  preached  from  Rev.  ii,  8  :  '  And  unto  the 
angel  of  the  church  at  Smyrna  write  ;  These  things  saith  the 
First' and  the  Last,  which  was  dead  and  is  alive,'  etc.  After 
the  sermon,  which  was  adapted  to  the  occasion,  Richard 
Whatcoat  was  ordained  a  bishop  in  the  Church  of  God  by  the 
imposition  of  the  hands  of  Dr.  Coke  and  Bishop  Asbury, 
assisted  by  several  elders.     Never  were  holy  hands  laid  upon 


416  HISTORY   OF  THE 

a  holier  head."  Asbury  records  a  single  paragraph  of  but  fif- 
teen lines  respecting  the  session.  "  Two  days,"  he  says, 
u  were  spent  in  considering  about  Dr.  Coke's  return  to  Europe, 
part  of  two  days  on  Richard  Whatcoat  for  a  bishop,  and  one 
day  in  raising  the  salary  of  the  itinerant  preachers  from  sixty- 
four  to  eighty  dollars  per  year.  We  had  one  hundred  and 
sixteen  members  present.  The  unction  that  attended  the 
word  was  great ;  more  than  one  hundred  souls,  at  different 
times  and  places,  professed  conversion  during  the  Conference." 
Lee  writes,  that  "  such  a  time  of  refreshing  from  the  presence 
of  the  Lord  has  not  been  felt  in  that  town  for  some  years." 
He  seems  to  have  suffered  little  from  his  defeat  in  the  episco- 
pal election,  for  he  was  meanwhile  as  active  as  ever  in  the 
stirring  scenes  around  him,  preaching  with  great  power  in  the 
churches  and  the  streets.  In  reviewing  the  occasion  he  says, 
"  I  believe  we  never  had  so  good  a  General  Conference  before. 
We  had  the  greatest  speaking  and  the  greatest  union  of  affec- 
tions that  we  ever  had  on  a  like  occasion." 

There  are  some  significant  indications  in  the  proceedings 
of  this  session  which  have  hitherto  been  unnoticed  by  the  his- 
torians of  the  Church.  On  the  second  day  a  motion. was  intro- 
duced to  authorize  the  Annual  Conferences  to  elect  their  own 
presiding  elders.  It  was  defeated,  but  was  the  beginning  of  a 
controversy  which  prevailed  for  years  in  the  Conference  and 
throughout  the  denomination.  It  was  attempted  also  to  make 
local  preachers  eligible  to  ordination  as  elders.  The  motion 
was  adopted,  but  reconsidered  and  "  withdrawn."  William  Or- 
mond,  who  appears  to  have  been  the  noblest  "  radical  "  of  the 
body,  tried  it  again,  but  failed.  A  motion  to  reorganize  the 
General  Conference,  as  a  delegated  body,  was  defeated  by  "  a 
great  majority  ;  "  but  was  an  anticipation  of  a  coming  change. 
Coke  attempted,  without  success,  to  obtain  a  rule  by  which 
the  new  bishop,  in  the  absence  of  Asbury,  should  be  required 
to  read  his  appointments  of  preachers  in  the  Annual  Confer- 
ences, "  to  hear  what  the  Conference  may  have  to  say  on  each 
station,"  in  accordance  with  the  English  example.  Joshua 
Wells  was  defeated  in  a  motion  to  provide  a  committee  of  three 
or  four  elders,  to  be  chosen  by  each  Annual  Conference,  to 


METnODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  417 

aid  the  new  bishop  in  making  the  appointments,  an  anticipa- 
tion of  a  later  function  of  the  presiding  elders.  The  motion 
was  twice  repeated  by  other  members,  but  was  negatived. 
These  good  men  were  fearful  of  innovations  which  have  since 
become  indispensable  and  most  salutary  in  the  Methodist 
system.  A  rule  was  recorded  allowing  the  bishops  to  ordain 
"  local  deacons  of  our  African  brethren  in  places  where  they 
have  built  a  house  for  the  worship  of  God."  Nine  years  later? 
Lee  says  that  this  concession  was  but  "  little  known,"  and  had 
never  been  published,  owing  to  Southern  opposition.  Hi  chard 
Allen,  of  Philadelphia,  (afterward  Bishop  Allen,)  was  thus 
ordained  on  the  11th  of  June,  1799,  the  first  colored  preacher 
ever  ordained  by  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  But  the 
most  striking  feature  of  the  journals  of  this  session  (unnoticed 
by  the  Church  historians)  is  the  persistent  antislavery  interest 
of  many  of  the  most  eminent  men  in  the  Conference.  We 
have  seen  that  ever  since  the  Annual  Conference  of  1780  the 
subject  had  been  kept  before  the  Church  ;  that  the  first  Gen- 
eral Conference  (1784)  had  courageously  faced  it,  and  that  the 
session  preceding  the  present  one  declared  itself  "  more  than 
ever  convinced  of  the  great  evil  "  of  slavery.  The  question 
was  soon  again  rife.  Good  William  Ormond  (though  a  South- 
erner) introduced  it  by  moving  that  "  whereas  the  laws  now  in 
force  in  two  or  more  of  the  United  States  pointedly  prohibit 
the  emancipation  of  slaves,  and  the  third  clause  of  the  ninth 
section  of  the  Discipline  forbids  the  selling  of  slaves,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  members  of  the  Methodist  Societies  who  own 
slaves,  and  remove  themselves  and  families  to  another  State,  or 
to  distant  parts  of  the  same  State,  and  leave  a  husband  or  a 
wife  behind  held  in  bondage  by  another  person,  part  man 
and  wife,  which  is  a  violation  of  the  righteous  laws  of  God,, 
and  contrary  to  the  peace  and  happiness  of  families.  And  it 
is  further  observed,  that  the  rule  now  existing  among  us  pre- 
vents our  members  increasing  the  number  of  their  slaves  by 
purchase,  and  tolerates  an  increase  of  number  by  birth,  which 
children  are  often  given  to  the  enemies  of  the  Methodists.  My 
mind  being  seriously  impressed  with  these  and  several  other 
considerations,  I  move  that  this  General  Conference  take  the 

27 


418  HISTORY    OF    THE 

momentous  subject  of  slavery  into  consideration,  and  make 
such  alterations  in  the  old  rule  as  may  be  thought  proper." 
Stephen  Timmons  moved,  that  if  any  of  our  traveling  preach- 
ers marry  persons  holding  slaves,  and  thereby  become  slave- 
holders, they  shall  be  excluded  our  Societies,  unless  they  exe- 
cute a  legal  emancipation  of  their  slaves,  agreeably  to  the  laws 
of  the  State  wherein  they  live.  Nicholas  Snethen  moved,  that 
this  General  Conference  do  resolve,  that  from  this  time  forth 
no  slaveholder  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  John  Bloodgood  moved,  that  all  negro  children 
belonging  to  members  of  the  Methodist  Society,  who  shall  be 
born  in   slavery  after  the   fourth  day  of  July,  1800,  shall  be 

emancipated  :  males  at years,  and  females  at years. 

James  Lattomas  moved,  that  every  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  holding  slaves,  shall,  within  the  term  of 
one  year  from  the  date  hereof,  give  an  instrument  of  emanci- 
pation for  all  his  slaves  ;  and  the  quarterly  meeting  conference 
shall  determine  the  time  the  slave  shall  serve,  if  the  laws  of 
the  State  do  not  expressly  prohibit  their  emancipation.  Eze- 
kiel  Cooper  moved,  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  prepare 
an  affectionate  address  to  the  Methodist  Societies  in  the  United 
States,  stating  the  evils  of  the  spirit  and  practice  of  slavery, 
and  the  necessity  of  doing  away  the  evil  as  far  as  the  laws  of 
the  respective  States  will  allow  ;  and  that  the  said  address  be 
laid  before  the  Conference  for  their  consideration ;  and,  if 
agreed  to,  be  signed  by  the  bishops  in  behalf  of  the  Conference. 
"William  M'Kendree  moved,  that  this  General  Conference 
direct  the  yearly  Conferences  to  appoint  a  committee  to  draw 
up  proper  addresses  to  the  State  legislatures,  from  year  to  year, 
for  a  gradual  abolition  of  slavery.  The  motion  of  Timmons 
prevailed.  The  Address  to  the  Methodist  Societies,  proposed 
by  Cooper,  was  prepared  by  a  committee  and  sent  forth ;  it 
provoked  the  resentment  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  led  to  the 
sufferings  of  Dougharty.  The  obnoxious  documents  were  de- 
livered by  his  colleague,  Harper,  to  the  authorities,  and 
burned  in  presence  of  the  mayor.  The  result  of  these  enact- 
ments was  the  following  additions  to  the  Discipline  at  the 
next  session  of  the  Conference,  in  1804  :  "  When  any  traveling 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  419 

preacher  becomes  an  owner  of  a  slave  or  slaves  by  any  means, 
he  shall  forfeit  his  ministerial  character  in  our  Church  unless 
he  execute,  if  it  be  practicable,  a  legal  emancipation  of  such 
slaves,  conformably  to  the  laws  of  the  State  in  which  he  lives. 
The  Annual  Conferences  are  directed  to  draw  up  addresses  for 
the  gradual  emancipation  of  the  slaves  to  the  legislatures  of 
those  States  in  which  no  general  laws  have  been  passed  for 
that  purpose.  These  addresses  shall  urge,  in  the  most  respect- 
ful but  pointed  manner,  the  necessity  of  a  law  for  the  gradual 
emancipation  of  the  slaves ;  proper  committees  shall  be  ap- 
pointed, by  the  Annual  Conferences,  out  of  the  most  respect- 
able of  our  friends,  for  the  conducting  of  the  business ;  and 
the  presiding  elders,  elders,  deacons,  and  traveling  preachers 
shall  procure  as  many  proper  signatures  as  possible  to  the 
addresses,  and  give  all  the  assistance  in  their  power  in  every 
respect  to  aid  the  committees,  and  to  further  this  blessed 
undertaking.  Let  this  be  continued  from  year  to  year  till  the 
desired  end  be  accomplished."  The  Methodist  Church  had 
thus  far  been  the  most  active  antislavery  Society  in  the  nation, 
and  in  spite  of  some  reverses  was  still  to  remain  such,  till  the 
barbarous  evil  should  be  swept  away  forever. 

While  these  deliberations  were  going  on  in  the  Conference, 
the  whole  city  seemed  swayed  by  religious  excitement;  the 
great  revival  of  the  times,  which  prevailed  over  most  of  the 
nation,  seemed  to  centralize  there.  The  churches  could  not 
contain  the  people,  and  many  private  houses  had  to  be 
occupied  for  preaching.  I  have  recorded  the  name  of  Cath- 
arine Ennalls,  (sister  to  Bassett's  wife,)  who  introduced 
Methodism  into  Dorchester,  Md.  She  had  married  William 
Bruff,  a  Methodist  merchant  of  Baltimore,  and  was  now  most 
active  in  the  extraordinary  scenes  of  this  revival.  Her  house 
was  continually  open  for  preaching;  Lee,  Bruce,  M'Combs, 
Smith,  and  others  preached  there  with  wonderful  success. 
Boehm,  who,  not  being  a  member  of  the  Conference,  had 
leisure  to  share  in  these  spiritual  labors,  describes  the  results 
as  surprising.  "  The  Lord,"  he  says,  "  is  at  work  in  all  parts 
of  the  town."  "  Christ  the  Lord  is  come  to  reign."  Preachers 
and  laymen  passed  from  Bruff 's  house  to  the  churches,  "  sing- 


420  HISTORY   OF    THE 

ing  the  praises  of  God  along  the  streets.  This  greatly  sur- 
prised the  people,  and  hundreds  came  running  out  of  their 
houses  and  followed  us  till  we  reached  the  house  of  God. 
There  were  wonderful  exhibitions  of  power  as  we  went  through 
the  streets,  and  we  entered  the  house  singing  and  shouting  the 
praises  of  God." 

The  next  General  Conference  assembled  in  Light-street 
Church,  Baltimore,  May  7,  1804.  Coke,  "as  senior  bish- 
op," presided.  John  Wilson  was  elected  secretary.  The 
records  present,  for  the  first  time,  a  list  of  the  members, 
who  amounted  to  a  hundred  and  twelve ;  five,  however,  were 
"  excepted  "  as  not  entitled  to  vote,  not  having  traveled  four 
years.  The  Philadelphia  Conference  was  represented  by 
thirty-seven,  Baltimore  by  thirty,  New  England  by  but  four, 
and  the  great  Western  field  by  three.  Philadelphia  and 
Baltimore  had  sixty-seven  of  the  members,  nearly  two  thirds 
•  of  the  whole  Conference.  It  was  obvious  that  a  reorgani- 
zation of  the  body,  on  the  principle  of  delegation,  had  become 
necessary,  but  it  was  deferred  to  the  next  session.  The  Dis- 
cipline was  elaborately  revised,  section  by  section,  Coke 
reading  item  after  item,  and  the  Conference  debating  with  no 
little  interest.  Some  changes  were  made.  The  bishops  were 
not  allowed  to  appoint  preachers  for  more  than  two  successive 
years  to  the  same  appointment;  hitherto  there  had  been  no 
restriction,  and  some  had  been  three  years  in  one  appointment. 
Asbury  rejoiced  in  the  new  rule  as  a  great  relief  to  the 
appointing  power.  The  title  of  "  Quarterly  Meeting  Con- 
ference "  was  given  to  the  quarterly  assembly  of  the  official 
members  of  the  Circuits.  The  "  Book  Concern  "  was  ordered  to 
be  removed  from  Philadelphia  to  New  York.  At  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Church,  in  1784,  it  was  the  first  religious  body 
of  the  country  to  insert  in  its  constitutional  law  (in  its  Articles 
of  Religion)  a  recognition  of  the  new  government,  enforcing 
patriotism  on  its  communicants.  A  very  noteworthy  modifi- 
cation (peculiarly  interesting  in  our  day)  was  made  in  this 
article  at  the  present  session.  In  the  original  article  it  was 
affirmed  that  the  "  Congress,"  etc.,  "  are  the  officers  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  according  to  the  division  of  power 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  421 

made  to  them  by  the  General  Act  of  Confederation,"  etc.,  the 
national  constitution  having  not  yet  been  adopted;  but  the 
present  Conference,  by  a  motion  of  Ezekiel  Cooper,  (a  man 
noted  for  his  sagacity,)  struck  out  all  allusion  to  the  "  Act  of 
Confederation,"  inserting  in  its  stead  "  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,"  etc.,  and  declared  that  "  the  said  States  are  a 
sovereign  and  independent  nation"  Methodism  thus  delib- 
erately, and  in  its  constitutional  law,  recognized  that  the 
"  Constitution  "  superseded  the  "  Act  of  Confederation,"  and 
that  the  republic  was  no  longer  a  confederacy  but  a  nation, 
and,  as  such,  supreme  and  sovereign  over  all  its  States.  It  was 
at  a  period  of  no  little  political  agitation  on  the  question 
of  State  Sovereignty  that  this  change  was  made  :  the  Kentucky 
"Eesolutions  of  1798,"  and  those  of  Virginia,  1799,  had 
become  the  basis  of  a  State  Eights  party.  A  contemporary 
Methodist  preacher  (Henry  Boehm,  still  living)  records  that 
just  previous  to  this  time  "  there  was  great  political  excite- 
ment. Federalism  and  Democracy  ran  high.  Such  was  the 
excitement  that  it  separated  families,  and  friends,  and  members 
of  the  Church.  I  was  urged,  on  every  side,  to  identify  my- 
self with  one  political  party  or  the  other,  or  to  express  an 
opinion.  I  felt  sad  to  see  what  influence  this  state  of  feeling 
was  producing  in  the  Church."  It  was  in  such  circumstances 
that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  took  its  stand  for  the 
National  Constitution.  After  the  adoption  of  that  Constitution, 
Methodism  never  doubted  the  sovereign  nationality  of  the 
republic,  and  never  had  the  un statesmanlike  folly  to  recognize 
any  state  right  of  secession,  or  any  sovereignty  which  is  not 
subordinate  to  the  National  Sovereignty.  During  the  late 
civil  war  it  appealed  to  its  Article,  as  expressing  the  loyal 
duty  of  all  its  people,  and  they  responded  to  the  appeal  with 
a  patriotic  devotion  surpassed  by  no  other  religious  com- 
munion of  the  country. 

The  subject  of  slavery  was  discussed  as  usual.  M'Caine  in- 
troduced it  by  demanding  that  it  be  made  the  order  of  the 
day  for  a  given  time.  At  the  appointed  time  Bruce  brought 
it  up  by  a  petition  from  the  Yirginia  Conference,  when  M'Caine 
made  the  motion  "  that  the  Question  (in  the  Discipline)  con- 


422  HISTOKY   OF    THE 

cerning  it  should  run  thus  :  '  What  shall  be  done  for  the  extir- 
pation of  the  evil  of  slavery  ? ' "  which  was  "  carried."  The 
Journal  then  records  that  "  a  variety  of  motions  were  proposed 
on  the  subject ;  and,  after  a  long  conversation,  Freeborn  Gar- 
rettson  moved,  that  the  subject  of  slavery  be  left  to  the  three 
bishops,  to  form  such  a  section  to  suit  the  Southern  and 
Northern  states,  as  they  in  their  wisdom  may  think  best,  to  be 
submitted  to  this  Conference.  Carried.  Bishop  Asbury  hav- 
ing refused  to  act  on  the  last  vote,  the  question  was  left  open. 
Ezekiel  Cooper  moved,  that  a  committee  be  formed,  one  from 
each  Conference,  to  take  the  different  motions,  and  report  con- 
cerning slavery.  Carried.  George  Dougharty,  Philip  Bruce, 
William  Burke,  Henry  Willis,  Ezekiel  Cooper,  Freeborn  Gar- 
rettson,  and  Thomas  Lyell  were  appointed."  This  committee 
reported  a  long  statute  in  answer  to  the  new  question,  "  What 
shall  be  done  for  the  extirpation  of  the  evil  of  slavery  1 "  re- 
taining most  of  the  act  of  1796,  but  with  modifying  phrases ; 
the  adjective  "  African  "  is  dropped  and  the  word  "  slavery  " 
alone  retained.  The  clause  providing  for  the  expulsion  of  a 
member  who  should  be  guilty  of  selling  a  slave  was  qualified 
by  the  proviso,  "  except  at  the  request  of  the  slave,  in  cases  of 
mercy  and  humanity,  agreeably  to  the  judgment  of  a  com- 
mittee of  the  male  members  of  the  Society,  appointed  by  the 
preacher  who  has  the  charge  of  the  Circuit."  It  was  also  pro- 
vided that  "  if  a  member  of  our  Society  shall  buy  a  slave  with 
a  certificate  of  future  emancipation,  the  terms  of  emancipation 
shall,  notwithstanding,  be  subject  to  the  decision  of  the 
quarterly-meeting  conference."  Methodists  in  the  States  of 
North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Tennessee  were 
exempt  from  the  rules  ont  he  subject,  on  account  of  the  strin- 
gent laws  of  those  States.  The  directions,  to  the  Annual  Con- 
ferences, to  prepare  forms  of  petition  to  the  state  legislatures 
for  emancipation  were  omitted,  and  it  was  ordered  that  u  our 
preachers,  from  time  to  time,  as  occasion  serves,  admonish  and 
exhort  all  slaves  to  render  due  respect  and  obedience  to  the 
commands  and  interests  of  their  respective  masters."  The 
treatment  of  their  petitions  and  addresses  in  the  South,  and 
Dougharty's  sufferings  at  Charleston,  had  evidently  somewhat 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  423 

discouraged  the  preachers ;  their  tone  is  more  subdued,  though 
the  law,  in  its  new  form,  is  still  very  thorough,  imposing  the 
penalty  of  expulsion  from  the  Conference  upon  any  preacher 
who  should  u  become,  by  any  means,  an  owner  of  slaves," 
unless  he  should  "  execute  their  legal  emancipation,  if  practi- 
cable, according  to  the  laws  of  the  State  where  he  lives; "  ex- 
pulsion from  the  Church,  on  any  member  who  should  sell  a 
slave,  and  conditional  emancipation  on  any  who  should 
purchase  one,  except  at  the  request  of  the  slave. 

The  Conference  adjourned  on  the  twenty-third  of  May, 
having  sat  seventeen  days.  It  "  closed,"  says  Lee,  "  in  peace, 
and  the  preachers  parted  in  much  love."  Coke  embarked  for 
Europe,  and  was  to  see  his  American  brethren  no  more;  and 
Whatcoat,  the  junior  bishop  by  election,  but  senior  by  age,  was 
to  meet  with  them  no  more  in  a  General  Conference. 

These  eight  years  were  the  most  prosperous  in  the  history  of 
the  Church  thus  far,  surpassing  in  numerical  gains  any  equal 
period.  They  end  with  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand 
(115,411)  members,  and  four  hundred  preachers.  The  denomi- 
nation had  gained  nearly  fifty-nine  thousand  (58,747)  communi- 
cants, and  more  than  one  hundred  (107)  preachers,  more  than 
doubling  its  membership,  and  increasing  its  preachers  by  more 
than  one  third,  notwithstanding  the  great  number  of  "  loca- 
tions," which,  as  has  been  repeatedly  shown,  were  not  real  losses 
to  the  ministry,  nor  hardly  to  the  itinerancy.  It  gained  more 
members  in  these  eight  years  than  it  had  reported  at  the  end  of 
the  first  twenty-four  of  its  history.  The  Philadelphia  Conference 
took  the  lead,  numerically.  It  returned  more  than  twenty-eight 
thousand  seven  hundred  (28,712  ;)  Baltimore  ranked  next,  and 
Virginia  third.  The  gain  of  a  hundred  and  seven  preachers 
is  no  indication  of  the  actual  ministerial  growth  of  the  Church; 
a  host  of  its  most  commanding  men  retired  to  the  local  ranks 
in  these  years,  but  still  to  labor  indefatigably.  There  were  no 
less  than  two  hundred  and  seventy-eight  candidates  received 
into  full  membership  by  the  Conferences ;  there  were  but 
twenty-four  deaths,  and  six  expulsions  or  withdrawals ;  but 
there  were  two  hundred  and  four  locations,  besides  many  who 
were  put  back  into  the  local  ministry  from  a  probationary  rela- 


424  HISTORY'  OF    THE 

tion  to  the  Conferences.  Able  local  preachers,  many  of  them 
veterans  from  the  itinerancy,  were  now  scattered  over  the  whole 
country,  and  were  among  the  chief  founders  of  the  Church  in 
new  regions.  They  were  much  more  numerous  than  the 
traveling  ministry.  No  reports  of  them  were  yet  made  in 
the  statistical  returns ;  but  Lee,  who  had  traveled  in  all  its 
bounds  with  Asbury,  endeavored  to  ascertain  their  number  in 
1799.  His  estimate  was  doubtless  much  short  of  the  truth,  but 
it  gives  eight  hundred  and  fifty.  There  were  then  but  two 
hundred  and  sixty-nine  traveling  preachers.  About  sixty  of 
these  local  evangelists  were  beyond  the  Alleghanies.  New 
England  had  twenty-five,  and  about  a  quarter  of  these  were 
in  the  remote  province  of  Maine. 

Methodism  was  now  intrenched  in  every  State  of  the  Union, 
and  was  penetrating  every  one  of  its  opened  territories.  The 
few  itinerants  who  had  followed  Gibson  to  the  Natchez  coun- 
try invaded  West  Florida  and  East  Louisiana.  The  germs  of 
Churches  now  obscurely  planted  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois, 
were  never  to  die,  but  to  yield,  in  our  day,  the  mighty  harvest 
of  116,000  members  and  600  preachers  in  Ohio ;  90,000  mem- 
bers and  450  preachers  in  Indiana ;  90,000  members  and  560 
preachers  in  Illinois ;  and  to  spread  out  sheltering  boughs  over 
all  the  West  to  the  northern  lakes  and  the  Pacific  coast.  We 
shall  hereafter  see  the  yet  feeble  forces  of  Western  Methodism, 
hitherto  so  scattered  that  we  have  hardly  been  able  to  make 
anything  like  a  coherent  record  of  them,  consolidated  into 
thirty-five  powerful  Conferences,  with  three  thousand  itin- 
erants, and  half  a  million  communicants,  aside  from  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  all  other  branches  of 
the  denomination.  Though  it  began  in  the  West  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century  after  its  beginning  in  the  East,  and  was 
yet  in  the  former  but  a  dispersed  and  struggling  band,  it  was 
destined  to  embody,  in  its  ultramontane  Conferences,  by  our 
day,  fully  one  half  of  its  ministerial  strength,  and  to  move  for- 
ward in  the  van  of  all  the  other  Protestant  Christianity  of  the 
Valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

But  in  all  other  sections  of  the  republic,  not  excepting 
New  England,  the  inherent  vitality  and  progressive  energy  of 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  425 

the  denomination  had  now  become  indisputable,  and  it  was 
henceforward  to  advance  with  a  celerity  unknown  to  any  other 
form  of  Christianity  in  the  nation.  In  the  last  decade  of  the 
last  century  (1790-1800)  the  ratio  of  increase  of  the  population 
of  the  United  States  was  35*02  per  cent.,  that  of  Methodism, 
meanwhile,  was  but  12*60  per  cent. ;  but  this  disproportion 
between  the  growth  of  the  nation  and  the  denomination  was 
to  cease  for  our  age,  if  not  forever,  with  the  close  of  the  eight- 
eenth century.  Excepting  the  periods  of  the  secession  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  of  the  southern  Ee- 
bellion,  the  ratio  of  the  increase  of  the  Church  has  far  outsped 
that  of  the  nation.  Even  dating  from  1790,  and  making  no 
allowance  for  these  two  formidable  drawbacks,  the  average 
ratio  of  the  increase  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has 
been,  down  to  our  day,  (1865,)  56*85  per  cent,  for  each  ten 
years,  while  that  of  the  population  of  the  republic  has  been  35*82 
per  cent.  The  Church  has  led  the  nation  at  the  rate  of  twenty- 
three  per  cent,  each  decade.  And  yet  this  statement  gives  no 
adequate  estimate  of  the  vigor  of  Methodism,  for  about  half  its 
force  in  the  United  States  is  outside  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church.  The  astonishing  gains  of  the  latter  have  been 
made  in  spite  of  secessions,  by  which  half  the  actual  strength 
of  American  Methodism  stands  organized  beyond  its  eccle- 
siastical lines,  though  identical  with  it  in  doctrine  and  internal 
discipline,  and  nearly  so  in  ecclesiastical  economy. 

We  stand,  then,  at  present  (1804)  in  a  most  interesting 
stage  of  its  progress,  about  midway  of  the  decade  in  which, 
after  faltering  long,  in  the  ratio  of  its  growth,, behind  that  of 
the  country,  it  was  about  to  wheel  from  its  position  in  the  rear 
and  advance  with  its  triumphant  banner  to  the  front,  not  only 
of  all  other  denominations,  but  of  the  nation  iteelf  in  the 
ratio  of  its  increase ;  and  thenceforward,  for  good  or  ill,  lead 
the  Christianity  of  the  North  American  continent,  adding  to 
its  ranks  annually  masses  of  population  which  not  only  aston- 
ished its  own  humble  laborers,  but  the  Christian  world,  and 
sometimes,  in  a  single  year,  exceeded  the  entire  membership 
of  denominations  which  had  been  in  the  field  generations 
before  it. 


426  HISTORY   OF    THE 


CHAPTER  XXVIIL 

METHODISM    IN  THE   SOUTH:    1804-1820. 

During  all  the  years  from  1804  to  1820  Methodism  was  rapidly 
matured  and  consolidated  throughout  the  South,  which  had 
now  become  its  chief  field,  possessing  nearly  half  its  numerical 
strength.  It  reported  at  their  beginning  13  Districts,  87  Cir- 
cuits, 164  itinerant  preachers,  with  more  than  55,000  members, 
including,  however,  ilie  ultramontane  portions  of  the  Baltimore 
and  Virginia  Conferences,  which  I  have  thus  far  geographically 
assigned  to  the  West.  At  the  close  of  the  period  it  reported 
23  Districts,  102  Circuits,  and  272  preachers,  with  more  than 
101,500  members.  Methodism  had  taken  ecclesiastical  posses- 
sion of  the  South.  It  was  now  not  only  founded,  but  fortified, 
in  all  the  principal  Southern  cities.  Meanwhile  it  spread  pre- 
vailingly through  the  interior  towns  and  settlements.  It  had 
long  been  tending  toward  the  Southwest.  Early  in  the  period 
it  penetrated  into  Alabama,  where  it  was  destined  to  become 
the  predominant  religious  power.  The  noted  Lorenzo  Dow 
had  wandered  into  this  wilderness  in  1803,  and  was  there  also 
in  1804.  The  historian  of  the  State  acknowledges  that  he 
preached  the  first  Protestant  sermon  delivered  on  its  soil.  Lou- 
isiana, ceded  to  the  United  States  under  Jefferson's  administra- 
tion, reached  as  far  eastward  as  the  Perdido  River.  The  Indian 
title  to  some  of  the  eastern  lands  was  extinguished,  and  we  early 
hear  of  white  settlements  on  Tensas,  Tombigbee,  Buckatawny, 
and  Chickasaw.  It  was  to  these  frontier  and  semi-barbarous 
pioneers  that  Dow  heralded  Methodism.  In  1807  Asbury 
called,  in  the  South  Carolina  Conference,  at  Charleston,  for 
missionaries  to  this  then  far  western  field,  and  among  the  ap- 
pointments to  the  Oconee  District,  traveled  by  Josiah  Handle, 
is  Tombigbee  Circuit,  with  Matthew  P.  Sturdevant  as  preacher. 
Handle's  District  must  have  been  immense  and  perilous,  for 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  427 

between  the  Oconee,  from  which  it  took  its  name,  and  the 
Tombigbee  Circuit,  lay  an  Indian  country  of  four  hundred 
miles  extent.  The  next  year  Tombigbee  still  appears  in  the 
Minutes,  with  Michael  Burdge  and  Sturdevant  as  preachers, 
but  the  latter  bears  the  title  of  "  missionary,"  implying,  prob- 
ably, that  he  was  to  push  to  "  regions  beyond."  At  the  end 
of  this  second  year  they  report  eighty -six  Church  members, 
the  germ  of  all  the  subsequent  growth  of  Alabama  Methodism. 
In  1809  John  "W.  Kennon  and  Burdge  were  the  whole  itiner- 
ant force  of  the  field.  Their  labor  was  hard  and  their  success 
slow ;  but  they  returned  to  the  Conference  in  1811,  reporting 
one  hundred  and  sixteen  members. 

Meanwhile  itinerants  from  Tennessee  were  entering  the 
northeastern  portions  of  the  country.  About  the  year  1807 
the  Indian  title  to  the  region  north  of  the  Tennessee  Eiver 
bounded  on  the  east  by  Flint  Eiver,  on  the  west  by  Indian 
Creek,  and  reaching  to  the  Tennessee  boundary  line,  was  ex- 
tinguished, and  in  1808  Madison  County  was  organized.  It 
was  reached  by  the  Elk  (Tenn.)  Circuit,  and  the  next  year  we 
read  the  title  of  "  Flint  Circuit,"  with  no  less  than  one  hundred 
and  seventy  Methodists,  to  whom  the  Conference,  assembled 
in  Cincinnati,  sent  Jedediah  M'Minn  as  preacher.  Thus  the 
itinerants  of  the  Southeast  and  the  far  West  met  on  the  new 
field  of  Alabama.  In  1811  the  "Western  preachers  at  the 
North,  and  those  of  South  Carolina  at  the  South,  returned  an 
aggregate  of  about  four  hundred  communicants  in  the  country. 
The  labors  and  sufferings  of  the  earliest  evangelist  were  as 
severe  as  any  endured  in  the  history  of  the  Church,  but  they 
are  unrecorded,  and  known  now  only  by  fragmentary  traditions. 
John  S.  Ford,  who  was  sent  with  Kennon  to  Tombigbee  Cir- 
cuit in  1810,  relates  that  from  the  time  they  set  out  from  the 
e  cttlements  in  Georgia  till  they  reached  Fort  Claiborne,  on  the 
Alabama  Eiver,  they  had  to  sleep  under  the  trees  thirteen 
nights.  They  carried  their  own  provisions,  except  what  they 
could  occasionally  obtain  from  the  Indians,  till  they  arrived 
among  the  whites  on  Bassett's  Creek,  now  in  Clark  County 
Here  their  Circuit  began,  and  crossing  the  Tombigbee  at  old 
Fort  St.  Stephens,  continued  thence  up  the  Buckatawny  over  to 


428  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Cliickasawha,  and  back  through  the  Tensas  settlements  to  Bas- 
sett's  Creek.  In  the  South  Carolina  Conference  of  1810  Asbury 
called  for  volunteers  for  regions  far  beyond  what  was  then  called 
"the  wilderness."  The  latter,  for  that  day,  was  the  country 
from  the  Ocmulgee  Kiver  to  near  the  Alabama.  Beyond  this 
lay  still  another  "  wilderness  "  of  the  Chickasaw  and  Choctaw 
Indians,  and  still  beyond  the  latter  lay  the  field  to  which  the 
itinerants  now  began  to  move. 

In  1811  the  Western  Conference,  at  Cincinnati,  sent  Thomas 
Stilwell  and  David  Goodner  to  Eichland  and  Flint,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  ecclesiastical  year  three  hundred  and  forty -eight 
members  are  reported  from  Flint  Circuit.  The  South  Carolina 
Conference  of  1811  ceases  to  report  Tombigbee  Circuit ;  but  it 
reappears,  in  the  Mississippi  District,  with  one  hundred  and 
forty  members,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Western  Confer- 
ence. Alabama  thus  passes  definitively  into  the  ecclesiastical 
geography  of  the  West,  but  with  it  went  a  company  of  strong 
South  Carolina  preachers,  at  whose  head,  as  presiding  elder, 
was  Dunwody.  His  Mississippi  District  was  to  become,  in  the 
Minutes  of  1817,  the  Mississippi  Conference.  Gibson,  as  we 
have  seen,  had  reached  the  still  remoter  Southwest  by  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  Rivers,  and  in  1812  a  band  of  four  young  evan- 
gelists departed  from  South  Carolina,  on  horseback,  for  the 
distant  fields  of  Mississippi  and  Louisiana.  They  were  Kich- 
mond  Nolley,  Lewis  Hobbs,  Drury  Powell,  and  Thomas  Griffin. 
We  shall  have  occasion  to  notice  hereafter  some  of  their,  ad- 
ventures in  the  far  Southwest. 

Of  the  host  of  able  men  whom  we  have  heretofore  seen  in 
the  Southern  itinerancy,  most  were  yet  abroad,  and  still  in 
their  prime  vigor ;  others,  who  have  not  yet  come  under  our 
notice,  were  now  mighty  in  labors ;  and  still  others,  of  later 
historical  prominence,  were  about  to  appear. 

William  M.  Kennedy  began  his  career  at  the  beginning  of 
this  period.  Joining  the  South  Carolina  Conference  of  1805, 
lie  filled  its  most  important  appointments  for  more  than  thirty 
years,  half  of  the  time  as  presiding  elder.  In  1839  he  was  struck 
with  apoplexy ;  and  his  Conference  placed  him  on  its  superannu- 
ated list,  but  he  continued  to  labor.     "  I  wish,"  he  exclaimed, 


METnODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  429 

"  the  messenger  of  death  to  find  me  at  m j  Master's  work." 
Traveling  in  the  service  of  the  Church,  he  was  suddenly  struck 
down  by  another  attack  of  his  malady  at  the  foot  of  a  large 
oak  in  Newburgh  District,  S.  C,  and  died  in  1840,  lamented 
as  one  of  the  noblest  men  of  Southern  Methodism. 

One  of  the  most  memorable  evangelists  of  the  Southern  itin- 
erancy, a  man  of  real  and  rare  genius,  James  Russell,  appeared 
in  the  same  year  with  Kennedy.  He  had  been  refused  license 
to  exhort  because  of  his  ignorance,  but  his  surpassing  natural 
powers  at  last  bore  him  above  all  opposition.  He  carried  his 
spelling  book  with  him  along  his  Circuit,  seeking  assistance  in 
its  lessons  even  from  the  children  of  the  families  where  he 
lodged.  If  the  state  of  society  in  the  far  South  at  this  early 
time  would  allow  such  a  fact  to  detract  from  the  ministerial 
character  of  ordinary  men,  it  could  not  with  him,  for  his  extraor- 
dinary power  in  the  pulpit  armed  him  with  a  supreme  author- 
ity. He  was  capable  of  the  highest  natural  oratory,  striking 
with  awe  or  melting  with  pathos  his  crowded  auditories.  His 
self-culture  advanced  rapidly.  He  became  a  good  English 
scholar,  and  a  man  of  refined  taste,  commanding  the  admiration 
of  the  most  intelligent  as  well  as  the  most  illiterate  among  his 
hearers,  and  "  standing,"  says  a  bishop  of  his  Church,  "  promi- 
nent among  such  men  as  Hope  Hull,  George  Dougharty,  John 
Collinsworth,  and  Lewis  Myers.  He  was  one  of  the  fathers  of 
the  Southern  Methodist  Church,  and  famous  in  three  States  as 
among  the  most  eloquent  and  powerful  preachers  of  his  time." 

Lovick  Pierce  and  his  brother,  Reddick  Pierce,  entered  the 
itinerancy  in  the  same  year  with  Russell  and  Kennedy.  The 
former  still  lives  a  representative  of  Southern  Methodism  after 
more  than  sixty  years  of  labors  and  sufferings  for  it ;  a  man  of 
the  soundest  faculties,  of  unflagging  energy,  .powerful  in 
the  pulpit,  and  of  hardly  paralleled  public  services,  which, 
however,  have  yet  had  no  such  record  as  would  admit  of 
their  just  historic  appreciation.  In  1799  Methodist  preach- 
ers on  the  old  Edisto  Circuit  extended  their  travels  to  the  ob- 
scure locality  (on  Tinker's  Creek)  in  South  Carolina,  where  the 
two  brothers  were  growing  up  with  hardly  any  opportunities 
of  religious  improvement.     Their  father  "  despised  the  Meth- 


430  niSTORY  OF   THE 

odists  with  bitterness,"  but  the  itinerants  were  welcomed  by 
some  of  his  neighbors.     The  two  youths  obtained  his  permis- 
sion to  attend  one  of  their  meetings,  at  which  James  Jenkins 
preached.     "  This,"  Lovick  Pierce  writes,  "  was  the  first  time 
we  ever  heard  the  Gospel  preached  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent 
down  from  heaven,  and  that  day  we  both  resolved  to  lead  a 
new  life ;  then  and  there  we  commenced  our  life  of  prayer." 
In  1801  they  joined  the  Church,  and  within  three  weeks  all 
the  family  who  were  old  enough  were  enrolled  in  it.     The 
next  year  a  Methodist  chapel  was  erected  near  their  house ; 
both  brothers  began  to  exhort,  and  in  December  of  1804  both 
were  received  into  the  Conference  at  Charleston.     Eeddick 
Pierce  was  one  of  the  purest  of  men,  and  his  word  was  in  pre- 
vailing power.     "I  myself,"  says  his  brother,  "saw  on  one 
occasion,  under  one  of  his  exhortations,  eleven  sinners  fall  from 
their  seat — from  one  seat — to  the  ground,  crying  for  mercy." 
Lovick   Pierce   as   pastor,   presiding   elder,    a   leader  in   his 
Annual  Conference,  a  representative  in  the  General  Confer- 
ence, has  hardly  been  surpassed  in  the  South.     He  has  led 
many  a  young  hero  into  the  ministerial  ranks,  and  his  early 
labors  were  honored  by  the  conversion  of  one  of  the  noblest 
martyrs  of  the  itinerancy.     Eichmond  Nolley  was,  by  birth,  a 
Yirginian,  but  his  parents  removed  with  him  early  to  Georgia, 
where  he  was  soon  left  a  poor  and  orphan  boy.     Captain  Lucas, 
a  Methodist  of  Sparta,  Ga.,  gave  him  a  home  and  employment, 
A  camp-meeting,  still  famous  in  Georgia  Methodist  traditions, 
was  held,  near  Sparta,  in  1806,  and  attended  by  an  immense 
crowd.      It  was  impossible   for   all   the   people   to   hear  the 
preacher,  and  Lovick  Pierce  was  deputed  to  hold  a  separate 
meeting  on  adjacent  ground.     He  stood  upon  a  table  and  pro- 
claimed the  word  with  such  power  that  a  hearer,  the  daughter 
of  Captain   Lucas,  fell,  smitten  by  it,  in  the  outskirts  of  the 
throng.     The  whole  multitude  was  soon  in  commotion.     A 
simultaneous  movement  was  made  toward  the  preacher.     "  The 
people  fell  upon  their  knees.     This  interest  continued  during 
the  remainder  of  the  day  and  the  night.     Over  one  hundred 
souls  professed  conversion  around  that  table."     Nolley,  and  a 
fellow-clerk  in  the  store  of  Lucas,  were  among  these  converts. 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  431 

He  continued  under  the  parental  care  of  his  friend  Lucas  a 
year  longer,  preparing  himself  for  the  ministry  by  exhorting 
in  the  neighborhood,  and  in  1807  was  received  by  the  Confer- 
ence, and  sent  to  Edisto  Circuit,  where  he  did  good  service 
am»ong  the  slaves.  In  1809  he  was  appointed  to  Wilmington, 
K  C,  where  he  rejoiced  in  a  general  revival.  The  next  year 
he  was  in  Charleston,  S.  C,  where  he  labored  sturdily  against 
no  little  persecution.  Fire-crackers  were  ofcen  thrown  upon 
him  in  the  pulpit,  and  while  he  was  on  his  knees  praying ;  but 
he  would  shut  his  eyes,  that  he  might  not  be  distracted  by 
menaces,  and  preach  and  pray  on  with  overwhelming  power, 
a  habit  which,  it  is  said,  lasted  through  the  remainder  of  his 
life.  His  voice  was  as  a  trumpet,  and  no  man  of  the  South 
proclaimed  the  Gospel  with  greater  energy  than  he.  It  was 
already  manifest  that  his  character  was,  in  the  highest  sense, 
heroic,  and  that  the  bravest  work  of  the  itinerancy  befitted 
him.  Accordingly  in  1812  we  find  him  wending  his  way,  with 
three  other  preachers,  toward  the  Mississippi.  Remarkable 
scenes  and  a  martyr's  death  awaited  him  there'.  But  we  must 
part  with  him  at  present,  to  meet  him  soon  again  in  his  new 
field. 

Samuel  Dunwody  also  began  his  itinerant  life  in  South  Caro- 
lina early  in  this  period,  (in  1806,)  though  he  was  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania,  born  in  Chester  County  in  1780.  For  forty 
years  he  traveled  and  preached  like  an  apostle  through  much 
of  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas,  greatly  extending  and  fortifying 
the  denomination.  In  1846  he  was  compelled  to  retire  to  the 
superannuated  ranks;  and  "fell  asleep,"  in  a  most  tranquil 
death,  in  1854,  a  veteran  of  nearly  seventy-four  years.  He  was 
of  Irish  blood  and  energy ;  rough  in  features,  in  voice,  in  man- 
ners ;  resolute  to  the  uttermost,  having  a  "  determined  spirit, 
which  would  only  require  the  influence  of  circumstances  to 
render  its  actings  truly  heroic."  All  about  him,  "  dress,  horse, 
saddle-bags,"  were  marked  by  poverty,  by  disregard  of  fashion, 
or  even  comfort ;  he  seemed  totally  absorbed  in  his  spiritual  life 
and  work;  and  "his  external  life,"  it  is  said,  "so  manifestly 
drew  its  powers  from  the  spirit  within,  that  there  was  dignity, 
it  would  hardly  be  too  much  to  say  sublimity,  in  his  rough- 


432  HISTORY   OF   THE 

neflft."  He  attained  commanding  influence  in  his  Conference 
as  one  of  its  principal,  though  one  of  its  least  polished  repre- 
sentatives, and  was  charged  by  Asbury,  in  1811,  as  we  have 
noticed,  with  the  leadership  of  the  whole  Southwestern  field  of 
Methodism,  as  presiding  elder  of  the  Mississippi  District. 

Alfred  Griffith  was  brought  into  the  Church  in  1801,  in  a 
revival  which  began  on  Montgomery  Circuit,  Md.,  under  the 
exertions  of  Wilson  Lee,  wTho  had  recently  returned,  broken  in 
health,  from  his  great  western  labors,  but  was  preaching  with 
his  usual  zeal  as  a  supernumerary  of  the  Circuit.  At  one  of 
Lee's  appointments  (in  a  private  house)  lived  a  remarkably  de- 
voted colored  Methodist  by  the  name  of  Charles.  The  preacher 
having  determined  to  open  the  campaign  at  this  place,  cove- 
nanted with  the  faithful  African  that  at  the  next  meeting, 
while  he  should  be  preaching  in  the  principal  room,  Charles 
should  be  on  his  knees,  in  a  shed-room  opening  into  that  in 
which  the  service  was  proceeding,  engaged  in  supplication  for 
the  success  of  the  word.  "  When  the  time  came,  and  the  itin- 
erant, of  whom  men  stood  in  awe  while  they  admired  him,  arose 
in  the  crowded  parlor,  Charles,  true  to  his  engagement,  was  on 
his  knees  in  the  shed-room.  There  was  present  on  that  day  in 
that  place  a  power  more  than  human.  The  people  fell  on  every 
side.  They  prayed,  they  wept  sore.  Into  the  midst  of  this 
scene  now  came  the  pious  negro.  He  had  heard  the  Lord's 
answer,  and,  not  venturing  to  rise,  he  entered  the  room  walk 
ing  on  his  knees,  while  the  tears  streamed  down  his  black  face? 
now  made,  if  not  white,  at  least  intensely  bright  by  the  grate- 
ful joy  which  overspread  it.  Many  souls  were  converted  at  that 
single  meeting,  which  was  the  more  glorious  because  it  was  only 
one  of  a  glorious  series,  only  the  beginning  of  a  widely-extended, 
long-continued  revival  of  religion,  reaching  to  Baltimore  city 
and  County,  to  Frederick  County,  to  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Ma- 
ryland, to  Pennsylvania,  and  to  Virginia,  and  lasting  till  1808. 
In  1806  young  Griffith  was  received  into  the  Baltimore  Con- 
ference, and  sent  to  the  Wyoming  country.  In  his  numerous 
subsequent  appointments  he  has  been  an  able  contributor  to  the 
outspread  of  the  Church  in  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Vir- 
ginia, a  leader  in  the  Baltimore  Conference,  and  a  venerated 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  433 

counselor  in  the  General  Conference.  He  is  small  in  stature ; 
like  Paul,  of  unpretentious  personal  presence ;  of  simple  man- 
ners ;  of  few  words,  but  striking!  y  pertinent  in  debate;  profound 
and  statesmanlike  in  counsel;  and  in  familiar  conversation  re- 
markably entertaining,  anecdotal,  and  humorous. 

A  young  man  by  the  name  of  John  Early  was  admitted  to 
the  Virginia  Conference  in  1807.     His  family  "belonged  to  the 
most    influential    class   of  society   in   Bedford   County,  Va., 
where  he  was  licensed  to  preach  in  his  twenty-first  year.     He 
had  begun  his  public  labors  among  Mr.  Jefferson's  slaves  at 
Poplar  Forest,  in  Bedford  County,  and,  notwithstanding  his 
adherence  to  the  policy  of  the  Church,  South,  respecting  the 
slavery  controversy,  he  has  been  noted  from  the  beginning  for 
his  interest  in  the  religious  welfare  of  the  colored  race.     His 
strong  characteristics  quickly  marked  him  as  a  superior  man. 
Possessing  an  iron  constitution,  a  practical  but  ardent  mind,  a 
notably  resolute  will,  and  habits  rigorously  systematic  and  labo- 
rious, he  became  a  favorite  coadjutor,  a  confidential  counselor, 
of  Asbury,  M'Kendree,  Bruce,  Jesse  Lee,  and  their  associate 
leaders  of  the  denomination.     He  was  a  renowned,  if  not  in- 
deed a  dreaded,  disciplinarian.     His  preaching  was  simple,  di- 
rect, and  powerful ;  and  few,  if  any,  of  his  early  fellow-itinerants 
gathered  more  recruits  into  the  Church  in  Virginia.     Possess- 
ing surpassing  capacity  for  business,  he  was  often  called  upon 
for  important  services  by  both  Church  and  State.     He  took 
an  active  part  in  the  measures  that  resulted  in  the  division 
of  the  Church  in  1844,  and  the  organization  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South;  shared  in  its  convention  at  Louisville, 
Ky.,in  1845;  was  the  president  pro  tetnpore  of  its  first  General 
Conference  at  Petersburg,  Va. ;  and  was  there  elected  its  first 
Book  Agent.      In   1854  he  was  made  one  of  its  bishops  at 
Columbus,  Georgia.     He  still  lives,  after  one  of  the  most  labo- 
rious careers  in  the  history  of  the  American  Methodist  itiner- 
ancy.    One  who  has  well  known  him  says  that  "  he  has  prob- 
ably received  more  persons  into  the  Methodist  Church  than  any 
man  in  it.     As  a  presiding  oflicer  we  seldom  see  his  equal 
for  precision,  dispatch,  and  business.     His  preaching  is  always 
dignified,  simple,  and  impressive,  and  often  perfectly  irresisti- 

28 


434  HISTORY    OF  THE 

Lie ;  thousands  of  souls,  on  earth  and  in  heaven,  are  the  seals 
of  his  ministry." 

The  next  year  after  Early's  admission  to  the  itinerancy  an- 
other young  man  who  was  to  attain  episcopal  dignity  and 
national  reputation,  William  Capers,  entered  the  ministry  in 
the  South  Carolina  Conference.  His  temperament  was  vivid, 
brilliant,  and  generous.  He  loved  society,  and  was  gayest  of 
the  gay ;  but  his  Methodistic  domestic  training  had  touched 
the  deeper  susceptibilities  of  his  soul.  It  had  preserved  him 
from  youthful  vices,  and,  in  1806,  at  a  camp-meeting  on  the 
estate  of  Eembert,  of  Eembert  Hall,  (so  historical  in  early 
Methodism,)  his  conscience  was  thoroughly  awakened.  After 
a  short  period  of  healthful  religious  progress  he  became  the 
victim  of  a  morbid  delusion,  (sanctioned  by  the  current  Calvin- 
istic  theology,  but  denied  by  Methodism,)  under  which  he  suf- 
fered for  about  two  years,  and  which  deterred  him  from  an 
open  profession  of  his  faith.  Meanwhile  his  father  had  also 
been  led  astray  by  the  schism  of  Hammett  in  Charleston,  and 
had  lost  the  life,  if  not  the  form,  of  his  piety.  In  1808  his 
sister  was  converted  at  a  camp-meeting  in  the  Eembert  neigh- 
borhood, and  returned  home  exemplifying  the  power  and  peace 
of  the  Gospel.  An  affecting  scene  soon  followed,  which  he 
describes  :  "  It  grew  night ;  supper  was  over ;  it  was  warm,  and 
we  were  sitting  in  a  piazza  open  to  the  southwest  breeze  which 
fans  our  summer  evenings.  My  sister  was  singing  with  a  soft, 
clear  voice  some  of  the  songs  of  the  camp-meeting,  and  as  she 
paused,  my  father  touched  my  shoulder  with  his  hand,  and 
slowly  walked  away.  I  followed  him  till  he  had  reached  the 
furthest  end  of  the  piazza  on  another  side  of  the  house,  wThen, 
turning  to  me,  he  expressed  himself  in  a  few  brief  words,  to  the 
effect  that  he  felt  himself  to  have  been  for  a  long  time  in  a 
backslidden  state,  and  that  he  must  forthwith  acknowledge  the 
grace  of  God  in  his  children  or  perish.  His  words  were  few, 
but  they  were  enough,  and  strong  enough.  I  sank  to  my 
knees  and  burst  into  tears  at  the  utterance  of  them,  while  for 
a  moment  he  stood  trembling  by  me,  and  then  bade  me  get 
the  books.  The  Bible  was  put  on  the  table ;  the  family  came 
together.     He  read  the  hundred  and  third  psalm,  and  then  he 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  435 

kneeled  down  and  prayed  as  if  he  felt  indeed  that  life  or  death, 
heaven  or  hell,  depended  on  the  issue.  That  was  the  hour  of 
grace  and  mercy — grace  restored  to  my  father  as  in  times  of  my 
infancy,  and  mercy  to  me  iu  breaking  the  snare  of  the  fowler 
that  my  soul  might  escape."  He  had  been  studying  for  the 
Bar,  but  his  law  books .  were  now  laid  aside  for  the  Bible. 
William  Gassaway  summoned  him  out  to  accompany  him 
around  a  circuit.  He  went  to  Camden  to  meet  Gassaway  for 
the  purpose,  and  diffidently  took  refuge  in  an  inn,  at  the  door 
of  which  the  venerable  Rembert,  who  was  passing,  met  him, 
and  exhorted  him  to  go  with  Gassaway.  He  found  Kennedy 
with  the  latter,  and  accompanied  them  to  the  church.  Ken- 
nedy preached,  and  afterward  beckoned  him  to  the  pulpit, 
where  Gassaway,  who  sat  in  the  desk,  cried  out  to  him, 
"  Exhort !  "  He  did  so,  and  thus  began  his  distinguished  min- 
isterial career. 

In  the  last  month  of  1808  young  Capers  was  received  by  the 
Conference,  and  appointed  to  the  Wateree  Circuit,  on  which 
he  had  to  fill  twenty-four  appointments  every  four  weeks.  He 
had  formidable  labors  and  trials,  and  was  well  initiated.  In 
1809  he  traveled  Pee  Dee  Circuit,  where  he  was  especially 
devoted  to  the  religious  welfare  of  the  colored  people.  He 
found  many  of  them  eminently  pious,  and  some  as  eminently 
useful.  One  of  his  churches,  at  Fayetteville,  had  been  founded 
by  a  faithful  negro,  whose  name  has  thereby  become  historic  in 
the  annals  of  the  Conference.  "  The  most  remarkable  man," 
he  says,  "in  Fayetteville  when  I  went  there,  and  who  died 
during  my  stay,  was  a  negro  by  the  name  of  Henry  Evans, 
who  was  confessedly  the  father  of  the  Methodist  Church,  white 
and  black,  in  Fayetteville,  and  the  best  preacher  of  his  time  in 
that  quarter,  and  who  was  so  remarkable  as  to  have  become 
the  greatest  curiosity  of  the  town,  insomuch  that  distinguished 
visitors  hardly  felt  that  they  might  pass  a  Sunday  in  Fayette- 
ville without  hearing  him  preach.  Evans  was  from  Virginia ; 
a  shoemaker  by  trade,  and,  I  think,  was  born  free.  He  be- 
came a  Christian  and  a  Methodist  quite  young,  and  was 
licensed  to  preach  in  Yirginia.  While  yet  a  young  man  he 
determined  to  remove  to  Charleston,  S.  C,  thinking  he  might 


436  HISTORY    OF    THE 

succeed  best  there  at  his  trade.  But  having  reached  Fayette- 
ville  on  his  way  to  Charleston,  his  spirit  was  stirred  at  per- 
ceiving that  the  people  of  his  race  in  that  town  where  wholly 
given  to  profanity  and  lewdness,  never  hearing  preaching  of 
any  denomination.  This  determined  him  to  stop  in  Fayette- 
ville,  and  he  began  to  preach  to  the  negroes  with  great  effect. 
The  town  council  interfered,  and  nothing  in  his  power  could 
prevail  with  them  to  permit  him  to  preach.  He  then  with- 
drew to  the  sand-hills,  out  of  town,  and  held  meetings  in  the 
woods,  changing  his  appointments  from  place  to  place.  No 
law  was  violated,  while  the  council  was  effectually  eluded,  and. 
so  the  opposition  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  mob.  These  he 
worried  out  by  changing  his  appointments,  so  that  when  they 
went  to  work  their  will  upon  him  he  was  preaching  some- 
where else.  Meanwhile,  whatever  the  most  honest  purpose 
of  a  simple  heart  could  do  to  reconcile  his  enemies  was  em- 
ployed by  him  for  that  end.  He  eluded  no  one  in  private,  but 
sought  opportunities  to  explain  himself;  avowed  the  purity  of 
his  intentions,  and  even  begged  to  be  subjected  to  the  scrutiny 
of  any  surveillance  that  might  be  thought  proper  to  prove  his 
inoffensiveness ;  anything,  so  that  he  might  but  be  allowed  to 
preach.  Happily  for  him  and  the  cause  of  religion,  his  honest 
countenance  and  earnest  pleadings  were  soon  powerfully 
seconded  by  the  fruits  of  his  labors.  One  after  another  began 
to  suspect  their  servants  of  attending  his  preaching,  not  be- 
cause they  were  made  worse,  but  wonderfully  better.  The 
effect  on  the  public  morals  of  the  negroes,  too,  began  to  be 
seen,  particularly  as  regarded  their  habits  on  Sunday,  and 
drunkenness ;  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  mob  was  called  off 
by  a  change  in  the  current  of  opinion,  and  Evans  was  allowed 
to  preach  in  town.  At  that  time  there  was  not  a  single  church 
edifice  in  town,  and  but  one  congregation,  (Presbyterian,)  which 
worshiped  in  what  was  called  the  State-house,  under  which 
was  the  market,  and  it  was  plainly  Evans  or  nobody  to  preach 
to  the  negroes.  Now,  too,  of  the  mistresses  there  were  not  a 
few,  and  some  masters,  who  were  brought  to  think  that  the 
preaching  which  had  proved  so  beneficial  to  their  servants 
might  be  good  for  them  also ;  and  the  famous  negro  preacher 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  437 

« 

had  some  whites  as  well  as  blacks  to  hear  him.  From  these 
the  gracious  influence  spread  to  others,  and  a  meeting-house 
was  built.  It  was  a  frame  of  wood,  weather-boarded  only  on 
the  outside,  without  plastering,  about  fifty  feet  long  by  thirty 
wide.  Seats,  distinctly  separated,  were  at  first  appropriated 
to  the  whites,  near  the  pulpit.  But  Evans  had  already  become 
famous,  and  these  seats  were  insufficient.  Indeed,  the  negroes 
seemed  likely  to  lose  their  preacher,  negro  though  he  was ; 
while  the  whites,  crowded  out  of  their  seats,  took  possession  of 
those  in  the  rear.  Meanwhile  Evans  had  represented  to  the 
preacher  of  Bladen  Circuit  how  things  were  going,  and  in- 
duced him  to  take  his  meeting-house  into  the  Circuit,  and 
constitute  a  Church  there.  And  now  there  was  no  longer 
room  for  the  negroes  in  the  house  when  Evans  preached ;  and, 
for  the  accommodation  of  both  classes,  the  weather-boards  were 
knocked  off,  and  sheds  were  added  to  the  house  on  either  side  ; 
the  whites  occupying  the  whole  of  the  original  building,  and 
the  negroes  these  sheds  as  a  part  of  the  same  house.  Evans's 
dwelling  was  a  shed  at  the  pulpit  end  of  the  church.  And 
that  was  the  identical  state  of  the  case  when  I  was  pastor. 
Often  was  I  in  that  shed,  and  much  to  my  edification.  I 
have  not  known  many  preachers  who  appeared  more  conver- 
sant with  Scripture  than  Evans,  or  whose  conversation  was 
more  instructive  as  to  the  things  of  God.  He  was  a  Boaner- 
ges, and  in  his  duty  feared  not  the  face  of  man.  He  died  dur- 
ing my  stay  in  Fayetteville  in  1810.  The  death  of  such  a 
man  could  not  but  be  triumphant,  and  his  was  distinguishingly 
so.  I  was  with  him  just  before  he  died.  His  last  breath  was 
drawn  in  the  act  of  pronouncing,  (1  Cor.  xv,  57,)  '  Thanks  be  to 
God,  which  giveth  us  the"  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.'  On  the  Sunday  before  his  death  the  little  door  be- 
tween his  humble  shed  and  the  chancel  where  I  stood  was 
opened,  and  the  dying  man  entered  for  a  last  farewell  to  his 
people.  He  was  almost  too  feeble  to  stand  at  all,  but,  support- 
ing himself  by  the  railing  of  the  chancel,  he  said,  '  I  have 
come  to  say  my  last*  word  to  you.  It  is  this :  None  but  Christ. 
Three  times  I  have  had  my  life  in  jeopardy  for  preaching  the 
Gospel  to  you.     Three  times  I  have  broken  the  ice  on  the  edge 


438  HISTOKY   OF    THE 

* 

of  the  water  and  swum  across  the  Cape  Fear  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  you,  and  now,  if  in  my  last  hour  I  could  trust  to 
that,  or  to  anything  else  but  Christ  crucified,  for  my  salvation, 
all  should  be  lost,  and  my  soul  perish  forever.'  A  noble 
testimony!  worthy,  not  of  Evans  only,  but  St.  Paul.  His 
funeral  at  the  church  was  attended  by  a  greater  concourse  of 
persons  than  had  been  seen  on  any  funeral  occasion  before. 
The  whole  community  appeared  to  mourn  his  death,  and  the 
universal  feeling  seemed  to  be  that  in  honoring  the  memory 
of  Henry  Evans  we  were  paying  a  tribute  to  virtue  and  relig- 
ion. He  was  buried  under  the  chancel  of  the  church  of  which 
he  had  been  in  so  remarkable  a  manner  the  founder." 

Capers's  influence  throughout  the  South,  and  throughout  the 
denomination,  became  commanding.  He  was  sent  to  the 
General  Conference,  and  to  England  as  representative  of  the 
American  Church,  appointed  collegiate  professor,  and  presi- 
dent, editor,  missionary  secretary,  and  at  last,  after  the  division 
of  the  denomination,  elected  bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  which  office  he  maintained  with  unremitted 
labor  till  his  death  in  1855.  He  was  five  feet  nine  inches  in 
stature,  with  delicately  molded  features,  expressive  of  un- 
common refinement,  intelligence,  and  benevolence.  His  eyes 
were  black  and  lustrous,  his  voice  musical ;  his  manners 
marked  by  perfect  amenity.  In  the  pulpit  he  was  usually 
mild,  suasive,  and  instructive,  occasionally  exceedingly  im- 
pressive and  powerful.  He  was  a  restless  worker,  and  spent 
"a  handsome  patrimony  for  the  Church,"  was  often- in  want, 
and  died  without  other  resources  than  his  ministerial  salary. 
He  was  perhaps  the  most  important,  if  not  the  most  respon- 
sible, man  in  the  division  of  the  denomination  in  18M. 

Still  another  youth,  destined  to  the  episcopal  office,  was 
given  to  the  itinerancy  by  the  South  the  next  year  after  that 
in  which  Capers  entered  the  ministry.  Beverly  Waugh  was 
born  in  Fairfax  County,  Ya.,  in  1789,  became  a  Methodist 
under  the  ministry  of  Dr.  Thomas  F.  Sargent,  in  Alexandria, 
Ya.,  in  his  fifteenth  year,  and  joined  the*  Baltimore  Confer- 
ence in  1809,  when  hardly  twenty  years  old.  He  was 
repeatedly  appointed  to  Washington,  Baltimore,  Georgetown, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  439 

Frederick,  etc.,  down  to  1828,  when  the  General  Conference 
elected  him  Book  Agent  at  New  York,  where  he  conducted, 
with  ability  and  energy,  the  momentous  publishing  business 
of  the  Church  for  eight  years.  He  had  now  become  one  of 
the  prominent  men  of  the  denomination,  not  so  much  by  brill- 
iant or  popular  qualities,  as  by  his  well-balanced  faculties,  his 
consummate  prudence,  his  exalted  character,  his  devout  tem- 
per, Christian  courtesy,  and  effective  preaching.  The  Cincin- 
nati General  Conference  of  1836  elected  him  to  the  episcopate, 
and  for  twenty-two  years  he  sustained  that  most  onerous  office 
with  extraordinary  diligence.  Notwithstanding  his  precarious 
health,  impaired  by  his  labors  in  the  Book  Concern,  he  never 
failed,  in  a  single  instance,  to  attend  his  Conferences.  These 
were  years  of  stormy  controversies  in  the  Church,  and  he  was 
worn  and  wan  with  care  and  fatigue.  It  has  been  estimated 
tha^t  the  average  number  of  ministerial  appointments  made  by 
him  per  annum  was  five  hundred  and  fifty.  He  suddenly 
died  in  his  work,  by  disease  of  the  heart,  at  Baltimore  in  1858. 
He  was  dignified  in  person,  with  calm,  benign,  though  care- 
worn features,  brilliant  eyes,  shaded  by  heavy  eyebrows,  a 
voice  of  sonorous  distinctness,  and  manners  grave,  but  endear- 
ingly cordial  and  affectionate.  He  retained  to  the  last  the 
original  plain  costume  of  the  ministry.  In  the  pulpit  he  was 
often  exceedingly  powerful ;  in  the  episcopal  chair  prompt, 
without  hurry ;  cautious,  though  firm. 

John  Davis  joined  the  Baltimore  Conference  the  year 
following  Waugh's  admission,  and  became,  as  his  brethren 
testify,  "  a  prince  in  Israel."  He  attributed  his  conversion 
in  his  nineteenth  year,  to  the  ineffaceable  impression  of  a 
lesson  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  heard  while  sitting  upon  his 
father's  knee  while  yet  a  child.  His  earliest  appointments 
were  on  rugged  Circuits  of  the  western  mountains;  but  he 
soon  became  eminent  among  his  brethren,  and  occupied  the 
most  conspicuous  stations  in  Baltimore,  Washington,  and  else- 
where. He  was  presiding  elder  during  many  years ;  a  dele- 
gate to  the  General  Conference  at  every  session,  save  two,  after 
1816,  till  his  death,  and  a  chief  counselor  there,  though  never 
given  to  speech-making.     He  was  a  practical  and  effective 


440  HISTORY   OF   THE 

preacher,  and  gathered  into  the  Church  hosts  of  members. 
He  persisted  steadily  in  his  itinerant  career  till  his  infirmities 
compelled  him  to  retreat  to  the  honored  ranks  of  his  "  superan- 
nuated" brethren  in  1846,  and  died  in  1853,  in  the  sixty-sixth 
year  of  his  age  and  the  forty-fourth  of  his  ministry,  exclaim- 
ing, "  Happy  !  happy !  peaceful !  Tell  the  Conference  all  is 
peace ! "  In  stature  he  was  tall,  slight,  but  vigorous.  He 
was  energetic  in  his  movements,  always  appearing  to  have 
something  to  do.  In  familiar  life  he  was  exceedingly  agree- 
able, a  good  converser,  and  given  to  anecdote,  especially  re- 
specting the  adventurous  life  of  the  primitive  itinerancy.  So 
sound  was  his  judgment,  that  his  clearly  expressed  opinion 
was  usually  deemed  decisive  of  questions  in  the  Conference 
without  further  argument. 

As  the  period  draws  to  its  close,  names  familiar  and  dear  to 
us  all  nearly  half  a  century  later  begin  to  multiply,  such  as 
Tucker,  Beard,  Hamilton,  Tippett,  and  others;  within  our 
present  chronological  limits  they  were  graduating  toward 
the  orders  of  elders — modest  young  evangelists,  trying  their 
strength  on  hard  Circuits,  but  full  of  promise. 

Such  are  a  few,  and  but  a  few,  of  the  preachers  of  the  South 
in  our  present  period — the  second  generation  of  Methodist  itin- 
erants— worthy  recruits  of  the  elder  corps,  which  was  still  mighty 
in  the  field,  led  by  Lee,  Bruce,  Boberts,  Wells,  Everett,  Daniel 
Asbury,  George,  Reed,  Snethen,  Shinn,  Henry  Smith,  Roszell, 
Christopher  Sprye,  Gassaway,  Douglass,  Mills,  and  .similar 
men.  Many  others  of  equal  note,  but  of  scantier  record, 
might  be  mentioned,  some  of  whom  will  be  noticed  at  more 
apposite  points  of  our  narrative. 

These  were  years  of  rife  religious  excitement  through  most 
of  the  South.  The  camp-meeting  of  the  West  was  generally 
introduced,  and  from  Bassett's  Woods,  in  Delaware,  to  Rem- 
bert's,  in  South  Carolina,  and  far  beyond,  in  Georgia,  these 
great  occasions  were  of  almost  continual  occurrence,  attended 
sometimes,  says  Asbury,  by  ten  thousand  people,  and  three 
hundred  traveling  and  local  preachers.  A  thousand  conver- 
sions in  a  week  are  sometimes  recorded  of  a  single  meeting. 
A  pervasive  influence  went  forth  from  them  through  the  Cir- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  Ul 

cuits  and  Districts,  and  Methodism  spread  into  almost  every 
city,  town,  and  settlement  of  the  South.  The  annual  Confer- 
ences we're  often  held  at  or  near  the  camps,  and  the  arrival  of 
Asbury,  sometimes  with  M'Kendree  or  Whatcoat,  always  with 
an  able  "  traveling  companion,"  and  usually  with  a  retinue  of 
other  preachers  gathered  on  his  route,  became  a  sort  of  spirit- 
ual ovation,  a  triumphal  march  of  the  great  leader,  which  put 
in  motion  the  Methodist  hosts  all  along  his  progress.  The 
great  man  had  become  now  a  wonder  to  the  nation,  a  hoary 
captain,  with  such  a  prestige  as  no  other  clergyman  of  the 
western  hemisphere  could  claim.  He  had  led  his  people  to 
victory  in  all  the  land.  His  wThole  American  life  had  been 
heroic,  and  now,  tottering  with  years,  he  was  as  invincible  in 
the  field  as  ever.  There  was  no  faltering  in  his  course.  His 
character  and  example  were  a  marvelous  power.  The  people 
felt  that  a  cause  thus  providentially  conducted  could  not  fail, 
but  would  probably  take  the  whole  country.  The  itinerants 
especially  could  not  but  grow  strong  in  the  presence  of  such  a 
man.  His  continual  passages  among  them  inspirited  them  to 
emulate  his  wondrous  energy.  They  almost  universally  took 
a  chivalric  character,  a  military  esprit  de  corps,  which  kept 
them  compactly  united,  exultant  in  labor,  and  defiant  of  per- 
secution and  peril.  It  may  be  doubted  wmether  the  Christian 
world  ever  saw  a  more  laborious,  more  powerful,  more  heroic, 
or  more  successful  band  of  evangelists  than  the  Methodist  itin- 
erants who  were  now  traversing  the  South  from  Chesapeake 
Bay  to  the  Mexican  Gulf.  We  are  not,  therefore,  surprised 
that  their  communicants  numbered,  at  the  close  of  these 
years,  more  than  ninety  thousand;  that  they  had  gained 
rapidly,  not  only  through  the  rural  districts,  but  in  all  the 
cities,  nearly  trebling  their  numbers  in  Baltimore,  nearly 
doubling  them  in  Washington,  more  than  doubling  them  in 
Richmond  and  Charleston,  and  gathering  all  they  yet  had  in 
Savannah.  Baltimore  Conference  now  enrolled  33,289,  Vir- 
ginia 23,756,  South  Carolina  32,969. 


442  HISTORY   OF   THE 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

METHODISM  IN  THE   MIDDLE  AND  NORTHERN  STATES  J 
1804-1820. 

The  maturer  fields  of  the  Church,  in  the  Middle  and  Northern 
States,  had  almost  continual  prosperity  during  the  present 
period.  It  was  a  time  of  church  building,  in  which  the  prim- 
itive temporary  structures  began  to  give  place  to  more  com- 
modious but  hardly  more  pretentious  edifices  ;  of  local  growth, 
in  membership  and  influence,  and  of  rapid  and  important  ac- 
cessions to  the  ministry.  But  these  sections  had  not  much 
frontier  work,  except  in  Western  New  York  and  Canada,  and, 
therefore,  fewer  of  those  salient  events,  which  still  marked  the 
progress  of  the  denomination  in  the  South  and  West,  and  to 
some  extent  in  the  yet  reluctant  States  of  New  England. 
Their  published  records  continue  to  be  singularly  scanty  in 
historical  data.  Beginning  the  period  with  forty  thousand 
four  hundred  and  fifteen  members,  the  two  Conferences  of 
this  region  ended  it  with  three  Conferences  and  eighty-two 
thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  members.  They  had 
more  than  doubled  their  numerical  strength.  In  1810  they 
detached  a  large  and  thriving  portion  of  their  territory,  and 
formed  of  it  the  Genesee  Conference,  under  which  has  grown 
up  the  flourishing  Methodism  of  interior  and  Western  New 
York.  Asbury,  in  the  summer  of  1807,  wrote :  "  Our  Pente- 
cost for  sanctification  is  fully  come  in  some  places.  Ten 
camp-meetings  north  of  New  York  in  about  two  months,  and 
more  laid  out.  Now,  I  think,  we  congregate  two  millions  in 
a  year,  and  I  hope  for  one  hundred  thousand  souls  converted, 
convicted,  restored,  or  sanctified.  The  whole  continent  is 
awake.  I  am  on  a  route  of  three  thousand  miles  from  and  to 
Baltimore.  Such  a  work  of  God,  I  believe,  never  was  known 
for  the  number  of  people." 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  443 

Among  the  eminent  men  who  entered  the  ministry  in  this 
period  none  attained  a  more  important  historical  position  in 
the  Middle  States  than  John  Emory.  In  his  seventeenth  year 
he  joined  the  Church,  a  consecrated  youth.  He  was  classically 
educated,  and  early  devoted  himself  to  the  profession  of  the 
law.  At  the  time  he  abandoned  his  ambitious  hopes  of  wealth 
and  honor  for  the  Methodist  itinerancy  hardly  any  young  man 
in  his  native  State  had  more  flattering  prospects.  An  inflexible 
will,  the  most  assiduous  habits  of  study  and  application,  thor- 
ough manliness  and  uprightness,  remarkable  self-possession, 
clearness,  and  comprehensiveness  of  mind,  readiness  of  speech, 
in  a  style  of  equal  perspicuity  and  vigor,  and  an  extraordinary 
logical  faculty,  marked  him  as  a  man  to  whom  success  was 
beyond  any  other  hazard  than  that  of  life  itself.  He  was  not 
eligible  to  the  bar,  according  to  usage,  till  his  majority,  but 
was  admitted  two  years  earlier,  and  soon  had,  says  one  of  his 
legal  contemporaries,  "  every  prospect  of  wealth  and  fame " 
by  a  successful  practice.  He  abandoned  the  bar  for  the  min- 
istry. His  father,  though  a  pious  man,  persistently  opposed 
his  resolution,  refused  him  a  horse  with  which  to  begin  his 
itinerant  career,  and  refused  for  two  years  to  hear  him  preach, 
or  to  receive  letters  from  him.  Borrowing!;  a  horse  from  a 
friend,  he  went  forth,  however,  and  traveled,  "  under  the  pre- 
siding elder,"  till  the  session  of  the  Philadelphia  Conference 
in  1810,  when  he  was  received  into  its  membership.  His 
father  at  last  became  reconciled  to  his  course,  encouraged  his 
labors,  and,  when  dying,  sent  for  him  to  attend  and  console 
his  last  hours.  From  1810  to  1813  young  Emory  rode  Circuits, 
but  never  afterward.  His  subsequent  appointments  were  im- 
portant "  stations."  In  1820  he  was  sent  as  representative  of 
his  Church  to  the  British  Conference;  in  1824  appointed 
Book  Agent,  with  Eathan  Bangs  ;  and  in  1832  elected  bishop, 
positions  which  identify  him  with  important  questions  and 
advancements  of  the  Church.  In  them  all  he  showed  the 
qualities  of  an  extraordinary  man,  down  to  his  sudden  death 
in  1835,  when  he  was  found,  bleeding  and  insensible,  on  the 
highway,  having  been  thrown  out  of  his  carriage  on  his  route 
from  his  home  to  Baltimore.     He  died  the  same  day  without 


444  HISTORY   OF  THE 

the  restoration  of  his  consciousness.  In  person  he  was  below 
the  ordinary  size,  slight,  not  weighing  over  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  pounds,  but  well  proportioned,  and  erect.  His 
features  were  expressive  of  tranquil  thoughtfulness,  firmness, 
and  kindliness.  He  was  long  a  sufferer  from  gastric  ailments, 
but  was  a  persevering  worker,  a  thorough  student,  an  early 
riser,  and  rigorously  systematic.  Down  to  his  day  the  Church 
had  not  possessed  a  more  scholarly,  a  better  trained  intellect. 
He  was  pre-eminent  as  a  debater  in  Conferences,  especially  in 
the  General  Conference,  and  his  legal  skill  solved  for  it  some 
of  its  most  difficult  legislative  problems.  Withal  he  was  re- 
markably versatile,  and  successful  in  all  that  he  attempted. 
His  writings  in  defense  of  his  denomination,  both  its  theology 
arid  polity,  were  always  authoritative  and  conclusive.  His 
piety  was  profound,  steady,  yet  fervent.  He  saw  in  his  own 
Church  the  mightiest  system  of  agencies  for  the  evangelization, 
not  only  of  the  New  World,  but  of  the  whole  world,  that 
Christendom  afforded,  and  he  consecrated  himself  entirely  to 
the  development  and  application  of  its  forces. 

Jacob  Gruber's  labors  in  this  period  down  to  1814  were 
beyond  the  western  mountains,  but  after  one  year  more, 
spent  in  Baltimore,  he  had  charge  of  the  Carlisle  District, 
Penn.,  which  reached  into  Maryland.  In  the  latter  State  he 
held  a  camp-meeting  in  1818,  at  which  he  preached  before 
three  thousand  hearers  against  slavery,  no  very  uncommon 
thing  among  the  leaders  of  the  early  itinerancy ;  but  a  war- 
rant was  issued,  and  he  was  arrested  at  one  of  his  quarterly 
meetings.  The  grand  jury,  at  Hagerstown,  Md.,  produced  an 
indictment  against  him,  and  in  1819  he  was  solemnly  tried  for 
felony  in  the  Frederick  County  Court.  The  case  produced 
general  excitement,  especially  among  the  Methodists,  now 
eminently  influential  in  the  State.  Many  of  his  chief  minis- 
terial brethren,  especially  Eoszell  and  Snethen,  zealously  sus- 
tained him.  Ignatius  Pigman,  once  an  itinerant,  now  an  elo- 
quent lawyer,  and  local  preacher,  Eoger  B.  Taney,  afterward 
chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and 
two  other  lawyers,  were  employed  to  defend  him.  Hon.  J. 
Buchanan,  chief  judge,  Hon.  A.  Shriver,  and  Hon.  T.  Buchanan, 


I»  ,         *  •  < 


/       rr' 


„■  //„    S/,/,:/'.^    "f. 


/;//>/ 1. -■/„„■  -//  ,v,v  .)/,•//.,. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  445 

associate  judges,  composed  the  court.  The  trial  proceeded 
with  intense  public  interest.  The  jury,  after  a  few  minutes' 
retirement,  pronounced  a  verdict  of  "  not  guilty."  He  went 
forthwith  to  the  session  of  his  Conference  at  Alexandria, 
D.  C,  and  was  appointed  for  the  ensuing  year  to  Frederick 
Circuit,  named  after,  and  comprehending,  the  town  in  which 
he  had  been  tried. 

Marvin  Eichardson  was  awakened  at  the  old  Sands-street 
Church,  Brooklyn,  in  1805,  and,  in  the  next  year,  converted  at 
a  camp-meeting  held  at  Tuckahoe,  Westchester  County. 
William  Thatcher  presided  over  this  gathering,  and  Asbury 
and  a  host  of  preachers  were  present.  It  was  an  extraordinary 
occasion.  Asbury  said  that  it  exceeded  any  camp-meeting  he 
had  ever  attended.  "From  it,"  writes  Richardson,  "revivals 
spread  east,  west,  north,  and  south ;  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
was  poured  out  upon  the  city  of  New  York  in  an  unusual 
manner."  In  1808  Ostrander  announced  him  to  preach  in 
Brooklyn  without  his  knowledge.  With  great  diffidence  and 
agitation  he  thus  began,  when  but  nineteen  years  old,  his  long 
and  successful  itinerant  life.  The  same  year  he  was  called 
out  by  his  presiding  elder  to  the  Croton  Circuit.  Thomas 
Thorp,  later  a  useful  preacher,  was  one  of  the  fruits  of  his 
first  sermon  on  this  Circuit ;  yet  such  was  the  self-distrust  of 
the  young  evangelist,  that  he  determined  to  give  up  preaching 
and  return  home,  when  Woolsey  met  him,  and  by  urgent  and 
fatherly  admonitions  forced  him  back  to  the  Circuit.  A  second 
time  he  attempted  to  retreat ;  but  his  colleague,  Isaac  Candee, 
met  him  on  his  homeward  route,  and  again  turned  him  back. 
He  was  received  into  the  Conference  in  1809,  and  sent  three 
hundred  miles  to  Charlotte  Circuit  in  Vermont,  along  the 
shores  of  Lake  Champlain.  He  went  to  it  on  horseback,  car- 
rying his  clothing  and  books,  all  that  he  possessed,  in  his  port- 
manteau. He  had  formidable  labors  on  his  Circuit,  but  was 
sustained  by  a  "  powerful  revival  in  Middlebury,  Yt.,"  which 
so  strengthened  the  CJiurch  there  as  to  enable  it  to  become  a 
"  station."  Two  hundred  souls  were  added  to  the  membership 
of  the  Circuit.  During  the  remainder  of  these  years  he  occu- 
pied laborious   appointments.      On  some  of  his   circuits  he 


446  HISTORY    OF    THE 

suffered  severely,  receiving  but  little  salary,  sometimes  hardly 
enough  to  buy  clothing  for  the  year,  having  poor  fare,  im- 
paired health,  and  terrible  exposures  in  winter,  with  "  face, 
hands,  and  feet  frozen;"  but  he  was  faithful  to  his  charge,  and, 
as  his  subsequent  appointments  show,  became  one  of  the  repre- 
sentative men  of  the  New  York  Conference.  He  was  called 
the  "finest  looking"  member  of  that  body— in  person  well- 
proportioned  and  dignified,  with  an  expressive  face,  simple 
but  most  courteous  manners,  of  few  words,  extreme  modesty, 
great  prudence  in  counsel,  and  a  tranquil  uniformity  of  temper 
and  life — the  perfect  Christian  gentleman,  and  unblemished 
Christian  minister.  "  The  oldest  member  of  the  New  York 
Conference,"  says  one  of  his  brethren,  "he  has  attended  fifty- 
eight  of  its  annual  sessions,  having  never  failed  of  one  of  them, 
and  being  forty-two  years  <  effective.'  He  has  held  a  place  in 
the  front  rank  of  his  Conference,  and  in  the  regards  of  the 
people.  He  has  been  fourteen  years  on  Circuits,  thirteen  in 
city  stations,  fifteen  presiding  elder,  and  eight  times  a  delegate 
to  the  General  Conference." 

In  1808  Nathan  Bangs  returned  from  Canada,  and  was  ap- 
pointed to  Delaware  Circuit,  N.  Y.,  where,  among  many  other 
fruitful  incidents  of  his  ministry,  was  the  reception  into  the 
Church  of  his  brother,  Heman  Bangs,  who  joined  the  Confer- 
ence in  1815,  and  became  one  of  its  strongest  men.  Tall, 
robust,  of  powerful  voice,  and  more  powerful  brain,  an  inces- 
sant preacher,  and  able  disciplinarian,  assiduously  devoted  not 
only  to  the  perfunctory  labors  of  the  ministry,  but  to  all  the 
philanthropic  undertakings  of  the  Church,  a  man  of  fervent 
zeal,  of  great  practical  sense,  of  good  humor,  and  no  little 
adroitness,  Heman  Bangs  has  been  one  of  the  most  successful 
Methodist  preachers  of  the  last  half  century.  Nathan  Bangs 
occupied  important  posts  during  this  period :  Albany  Circuit, 
New  York  city,  and  Rhinebeck  and  New  York  Districts.  His 
pen  was  busy  in  publications  in  defense  of  Methodism,  and, 
with  Emory,  he  was  now  beginning  the  literature  of  American- 
Methodism.  He  was  greatly  useful  in  New  York  city  from  1810 
to  1812.  Methodism  had  one  Circuit  in  the  city,  with  but  little 
more  than  two  thousand  members,  when  he  began  there.     A 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  447 

profound  religious  interest  prevailed  during  both  years  of  his 
appointment.  More  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  members  were 
added  to  the  Church  by  the  close  of  the  first,  and  nearly  one 
hundred  and  fifty  more  by  the  close  of  the  second.  On  the 
Ehinebeck  District  he  had  almost  continual  revivals.  By  the 
end  of  his  four  years  on  the  District  its  nine  appointments 
had  increased  to  thirteen,  its  nineteen  preachers  to  twenty -five, 
and  it  had  gained  nearly  a  thousand  members.  Besides  this 
numerical  success,  nearly  all  its  economical  interests  had  im- 
proved;  chapels  and  parsonages  were '  springing  up  all  over 
its  territory.  Methodism  had,  in  fine,  secured  in  this  extensive 
region  not  only  a  lodgment,  but  a  strength  which  no  subse- 
quent adversities  have  been  able  to  shake.  He  led  many  a 
useful  laborer  into  the  ministry  during  his  presiding  eldership 
in  these  years,  some  of  whom  were  to  take  historical  rank  in  the 
Church.  It  was  toward  the  close  of  this  period  that  he  called 
out  Robert  Seney,  his  life-long,  and  perhaps  his  dearest  friend, 
one  of  the  first  three  graduates  of  college  in  the  ministry,  a 
man  who  sacrificed  the  profession  of  the  law  and  high  social 
rank  for  the  heroism  of  the  itinerancy,  which  he  maintained  for 
more  than  thirty  years ;  "  an  excellent  general  scholar,"  writes 
Bangs,  "  a  well-read  theologian,"  a  successful  preacher  in  the 
most  important  appointments  of  New  York  Conference,  a 
staunch  friend,  a  perfect  Christian  gentleman,  of  extraordinary 
memory,  intuitive  discernment  of  character,  rare  humor,  and 
profound  modesty.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  Bangs's  useful- 
ness during  these  times  was,  in  any  other  respect,  greater  than 
in  his  success  in  recruiting  the  ministry  with  similar  men. 

While  Dr.  Emory  was  in  charge  of  the  Union  Station,  Phil- 
adelphia, in  1814,  he  had  a  reluctant  agency  in  the  events 
which  gave  rise  to  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
As  early  as  1787  some  colored  Methodists  in  Philadelphia, 
withdrawing  from  the  Church,  undertook  to  build  a  chapel  for 
themselves,  and  Bishop  White,  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  ordained  a  colored  preacher  for  them.  Richard  Allen, 
once  a  southern  slave  but  self-redeemed,  had  become  wealthy 
and  influential  among  his  people  in  Philadelphia,  and,  in  1793, 
erected  for  them  a  church  on  his  own  land,  which  was  dedi- 


44:8  '  HISTORY   OF    THE 

cated  by  Asbury,  and  named  Bethel.  Allen  and  his  brethren 
had  entered  in  1796  into  an  engagement,  by  a  "  charter,"  to 
remain  under  the  disciplinary  regulations  of  the  Church  and 
the  jurisdiction  of  a  white  elder,  appointed  in  the  Philadelphia 
Conference ;  but  contentions  soon  arose  respecting  their  rela- 
tions to  the  Conference  ;  an  appeal  was  made  to  the  law,  and 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania  responded  in  favor  of  the 
Bethel  Society.  They  thus  became  independent.  Emory  in 
1814  addressed  to  them  a  circular  letter,  announcing  that  the 
white  preachers  could  no  longer  maintain  pastoral  responsi- 
bility for  them.  They  called  a  general  convention  of  colored 
Methodists  in  April,  1816,  to  organize  a  denomination  ;  and 
"  taking  into  consideration  their  grievances,  and  in  order  to 
secure  their  privileges  and  promote  union  among  themselves, 
it  was  resolved  that  the  people  of  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and 
all  other  places,  who  should  unite  with  them,  should  become 
one  body  under  the  name  and  style  of  the  'African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.'"  Thus  arose  the  most  important  Prot- 
estant body  of  Africans  in  the  United  States,  or  indeed  in  the 
world.  It  adopted  substantially  the  Discipline  and  Doctrines  of 
the  parent  Church,  modified  by  lay  representation  through  the 
local  preachers.  Allen  was  elected  bishop  by  its  General  Con- 
ference in  1816,  and  consecrated  by  five  regularly  ordained 
ministers,  one  of  whom  was  a  presbyter  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church.  He  died  in  1831 ;  but  the  denomination 
has  had  a  succession  of  able  superintendents,  some  of  whom 
have  been  remarkable  for  administrative  talent  and  pulpit 
eloquence.  Of  its  eight  bishops,  three  of  whom  have  died,  all 
were  slaves  except  one.  One  of  them,  Willis  Nazrey,  has 
episcopal  charge  of  the  Colored  British  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  Canada,  now  an  independent  body.  In  the  United 
States  they  have  (in  1867)  ten  Conferences,  550  preachers,  in- 
cluding five  bishops,  but  exclusive  of  1,500  local  preachers, 
and  about  200,000  members,  seven  eighths  of  whom  live  in 
the  Southern  States.  They  have  Church  property  to  the 
amount  of  four  millions  of  dollars,  a  Book  Concern  in  Phil- 
adelphia, a  weekly  newspaper,  and  a  college  in  Ohio.  A  later 
organization    of  colored  Methodists  has  also  acquired  impor- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  419 

tance,  reporting  more  than  90,000  members,  with  about  400 
traveling  and  many  local  preachers.  It  sprung  from  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  New  York  city.  There  were 
about  eight  hundred  and  forty  Africans  in  the  city  Methodist 
Churches  in  1818,  but  in  1821  only  sixty-one  remained.  A 
schism  had  been  working  during  the  interval,  and  resulted  in 
the  second  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  distinguished 
usually  by  the  prefix  "  Zion,"  as  the  first  usually  is  by  that  of 
"Bethel,"  taken  from  the  titles  of  their  original  Churches  in 
the  respective  cities.  The  two  denominations  are  quite  dis- 
tinct, though  maintaining  cordial  relations  with  each  other.  • 

Methodism  continued  to  extend  up  the  Hudson  through 
all  this  period.  Nearly  the  whole  Ashgrove  District  was 
astir  with  revivals.  Camp-meetings  were  now  in  more  gen- 
eral vogue  than  ever,  and  rekindled,  summer  after  summer, 
religious  interest  throughout  the  whole  territory  of  the  Middle 
and  Northern  Conferences.  In  each  year  of  the  period  able 
young  men,  besides  those  already  mentioned,  and  destined 
to  become  generally  recognized  as  ministerial  leaders,  but  of 
most  of  whom  no  adequate  records  remain,  entered  the  itiner- 
ancy :  in  1805  Charles  Giles,  George  Lane  ;  in  1807,  Peter  P. 
Sandford,  Phineas  Rice,  Lewis  Pease,  George  Harmon;  in 
1808,  Friend  Draper,  Thomas  Eeal,  William  Jewett ;  in  1809, 
Stephen  Martindale,  Isaac  Puffer,  Loring  Grant,  Coles  Car- 
penter, George  Gary;  in  1810,  Arnold  Scolefield,  Benjamin 
G.  Paddock,  Seth  Mattison ;  in  1811,  Joseph  Lybrand,  Man- 
ning Force,  John  B.  Matthias,  Benjamin  Griffen,  Marmaduke 
Pearce;  in  1812,  David  Dailey,  George  Banghart,  Tobias 
Spicer,  Elisha  Williams,  William  Ross,  Gad  Smith,  Gideon 
Lanning ;  in  1813,  John  Potts,  Israel  Chamberlayne  ;  in  1814, 
Joseph  Rusling,  Buel  Goodsell,  Elias  Bowen  ;  in  1815,  Richard 
W.  Petherbridge,  Josiah  Bowen ;  and  in  the  remaining  five 
years,  John  Dempster,  George  Peck,  Fitch  Reed,  John  J. 
Matthias,  Charles  Pitman,  JSToah  Levin gs,  Seymour  Landon, 
Zachariah  Paddock,  Glezen  Fillmore  ;  men  of  pre-eminence  in 
the  pastorate,  or  in  educational  institutions,  editorial  positions, 
the  missionary  secretaryship,  the  American  Bible  Society,  but 
who  were  yet  in  their  youthful  preparatory  training, 

29 


450  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Meanwhile  the  frontier  movement  of  Methodism  in  the 
Middle  and  Northern  States,  which  we  have  heretofore  traced, 
was  energetically  advancing.  The  Susquehanna  District,  per- 
taining to  the  Baltimore  Conference,  with  Owen,  Griffith, 
Paynter,  Christopher  Frye,  Draper,  and  a  succession  of  similar 
men,  as  preachers,  prospered  greatly.  In  1807  Draper  was 
sent  to  form  the  Canaan  Circuit,  of  ancient  renown,  and  the 
Church  advanced  rapidly  among  the  Cumberland,  Tioga,  and 
Wyoming  mountains  and  valleys.  In  the  more  northerly  in- 
terior the  denomination  extended  among  the  New  York  lakes, 
planting  itself  in  most  of  the  small  settlements  which  have  since 
risen  into  flourishing  towns  and  cities.  It  passed  over  the  Gen- 
esee River,  as  we  have  seen,  in  1804,  represented  by  a  useful 
layman,  David  Hamlin,  who  for  three  years  gathered  the  set- 
tlers in  his  own  house  for  religious  worship.  Peter  Vannest, 
who  had  been  tending  in  this  direction  for  years  as  an  itinerant, 
forded  the  Genesee  River  in  1807,  near  the  present  city  of 
Rochester,  and  delivered  his  first  sermon  in  what  is  now  Ogden 
Center.  The  first  class  was  organized  the  same  year  in  New- 
stead,  at  the  house  of  Charles  Knight.  The  next  year  a  youth, 
George  Lane,  afterward  well  known  throughout  the  Church 
as  a  faithful  itinerant,  as  Book  Agent  at  New  York,  and  as  a 
saintly  man,  crossed  the  Genesee,  and  held  the  first  camp- 
meeting  of  that  region.  He  traveled  Yannest's  new  Circuit 
laboring  unceasingly,  and  spread  out  the  cause  in  all  directions, 
preaching  as  far  as  Buffalo.  He  reached  at  last  the  northern- 
most tracks  of  the  ultra- Alleghany  itinerants  of  Pennsylvania, 
in  the  region  since  known  as  the  Erie  Conference.  In  1809 
Glezen  Fillmore,  a  young  ."  exhorter,"  visited  Clarence.  "  He 
had  joined  the  Church  in  "Westmoreland.  He  went  to  a  place 
now  called  Skinnersville,  to  see  a  family  with  whom  he  had 
been  acquainted  at  the  East,where  he  was  invited  to  hold  a 
meeting,  and  left  an  appointment  for  the  next  Sabbath.  On 
Sunday  morning  he  went,  and,  on  his  approach,  he  saw  people 
wandering  about  carelessly ;  but  upon  arriving  at  the  place  of 
meeting  he  found  no  one  there  except  the  family.  Wright, 
tKe  man  of  the  house,  seemed  distressed  at  the  disappointment, 
and,  rising  under  the  influence  of  considerable  excitement, 


METnODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  45} 

said,  <  I  cannot  stand  it'  He  went  out,  and  returned  with  two 
persons,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Maltby,  and  his  wife.  The 
family  and  these  two  constituted  the  congregation ;  but  Fill- 
more, nothing  daunted,  proceeded  with  his  meeting.  Maltby 
and  his  wife  seemed  considerably  impressed.  At  the 
close  of  the  exercises  Maltby  said  it  had  been  c  a  solemn 
meeting,'  repeating  the  words  several  times.  He  invited  Fill- 
more to  hold  another  at  his  house  the  next  Sabbath,  to  which 
he  gave  his  cordial  consent  When  the  time  arrived  the  house 
was  full,  and  a  good  religious  feeling  prevailed.  A  revival 
immediately  commenced,  and  a  Society  was  formed.  Maltby 
and  his  wife  were  among  the  converts,  and  he  became  a  local 
preacher.  Four  of  his  sons  were  afterward  members  of  the 
Erie  Conference :  grand  results  often  follow  what  appear  to 
be  small  causes.  Fillmore  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  con- 
tinued his  labors  in  a  local  capacity  for  the  space  of  nine 
years,  preaching  in  the  newly  opening  settlements,  and  prepar- 
ing the  way  for  the  traveling  preachers.  This  period  he  con- 
siders as  one  of  the  most  useful  and  successful  portions  of  his 
life."  He  was  to  have  a  prominent  place  in  the  subsequent 
history  of  the  Church. 

In  1805  Thomas  Smith,  whose  notable  adventures  in 
New  Jersey  and  more  southern  regions  have  been  men- 
tioned, was  sent,  with  Charles  Giles,  to  the  Seneca  Circuit, 
which  comprised  all  the  country  between  the  Cayuga  and 
Seneca  Lakes,  south  and  west  of  the  latter,  and"  north  to 
Lyons,  with  few  settlers  scattered  over  it,  and  they  extremely 
poor.  Smith  had  his  usual  trials  and  success  in  this  new  field. 
He  found  Indians  still  numerous  on  his  Circuit,  and  preached 
where  "  the  shining  tomahawk  and  glittering  scalping  knife  " 
were  within  sight.  He  suffered  from  the  diseases  of  the 
country,  and  at  one  time  "  lay  six  days,  on  three  old  chairs," 
in  a  log-cabin,  sick  with  fever.  .He  was,  however,  a  dauntless 
itinerant  Opposers  could  not  stand  before  him.  He  assailed 
them  sometimes  in  quite  original  modes  of  attack.  At  Lyons 
lived  a  highly  respectable  Methodist,  Judge  Dorsey,  whose 
wife,  Eleanor  Dorsey,  was  one  of  those  "  women  of  Method- 
ism"  who    ministered    to    Asbury,    and    the    other   earliest 


452  HISTORY    OF    THE 

itinerants  in  Maryland.*  The  general  spirit  of  emigration  had 
led  them  to  this  new  country,  and  their  house  was  now  the 
home  of  Methodist  preachers.  Smith  went  to  Lyons,  and 
says :  "  Here  we  had  a  respectable  Society,  and  a  small  meet- 
ing-house. But  the  people  of  Lyons  were  generally  wicked. 
They  took  pleasure  in  unrighteousness,  in  deriding  the  ways 
of  God,  and  'in  persecuting  the  humble  followers  of  Jesus 
Christ.  They  interrupted  and  insulted  us  in  our  religious 
worship,  and  on  this  evening  they  were  worse  than  usual.  I 
paused  until  I  got  their  attention,  and  then  remarked  that 
I  should  not  wonder  if  Lyons  should  be  visited  on  the  morrow 
in  a  way  that  it  never  had  been  before,  and  perhaps  never 
would  be  again  to  the  end  of  time.  We  then  had  quietness  to 
the  close  of  the  meeting.  When  the  congregation  was  dis- 
missed, and  I  had  come  out  of  the  house,  the  people  gathered 
around  me,  and  with  one  voice  cried  out,  '  For  God's  sake,  tell 
us  what  is  to  happen  here  to-morrow ! '  I  replied,  '  Let 
to-morrow  speak  for  itself.'  I  went  home  with  Judge  Dorsey, 
a  short  distance  from  the  town.  After  breakfast  the  next  day 
I  said  to  Mrs.  Dorsey,  '  I  wish  you  to  go  with  me  into  Lyons 
this  morning,  as  there  are  some  families  to  which  I  cannot  get 
access  without  you.'  She,  being  acquainted  with  the  place, 
readily  consented.  At  nine  o'clock  A.  M.  we  entered  the 
town.     Scores  from  the  country  were  already  there,  and  the 

place  was  in  commotion.     We  went  to  the  house  of  Mr. , 

where  we  were  politely  received.  I  knew  if  we  could  storm 
that  castle  the  day  was  ours.  After  conversing  some  time,  I 
remarked  that  Mrs.  Dorsey  and  myself  were  on  a  visit  to 
Lyons,  and,  if  it  were  agreeable,  we  would  pray  before  we 
parted.  i  By  all  means,  Mr.  Smith ;  by  all  means,  sir.'  Be- 
fore prayer  was  over  there  were  scores  of  people  at  the  door, 
and  by  this  time  the  order  of  the  day  began  to  be  understood, 
and  they  that  feared  God  were  at  their  posts,  coming  up  to 
the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty..  We  then  went,  in 
large  procession,  from  house  to  house,  entering  every  door 
in  order,  and  praying  for  the  souls  of  the  families.  Our  little 
band  soon  increased  to  some  three  or  four  hundred.     When 

*  "Women  of  Methodism,"  p.  250.     New  Tork,  1866. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  453 

we  came  near  the  tavern,  where  we  had  been  derided,  it 
was  inquired,  'Will  they  admit  us?'  But  the  doors  and 
windows  being  open,  we  entered,  and  was  there  ever  such  a 
shout  while  storming  Lucifer's  castle !  At  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  we  called  a  halt  to  see  what  was  done,  and,  forming 
a  circle  on  the  green,  the  new  converts  were  invited  within  the 
circle,  when  thirty-two  came  in  who  that  day  had  found 
the  pearl  of  great  price,  Christ  in  them  the  hope  of  glory. 
These  thirty-two,  and  eight  more,  were  added  to  the  Church 
of  God  on  that  afternoon.  Thanks  be  to  God,  this  was 
another  good  day's  work  in  the  Lord's  vineyard.  This  meet- 
ing produced  a  pleasing  change  in  Lyons,  and  Methodism 
gained  a  footing  in  that  place  it  never  had  before.  To  God  be 
the  glory ! " 

So  rapidly  had  it  spread  through  these  interior  regions  that 
in  1810  Asbury  organized  it  in  a  new  Conference.  On  the 
twentieth  of  July  the  preachers  of  the  Susquehanna,  Cayuga, 
and  two  Canada  Districts  were  convened  at  the  barn  of  Judge 
Dorsey,  in  Lyons,  and  there  formed  the  new  organization, 
comprising  all  their  recent  territory,  except  Lower  Canada. 
Increased  efficiency  was  thus  immediately  given  to  its  work. 
Its  three  Districts,  thirty  Circuits,  and  ten  thousand  seven 
hundred  members  of  1810  increased,  by  the  end  of  the  present 
period,  to  eight  Districts,  seventy-four  Circuits,  and  nearly 
twenty-four  thousand  members,  more  than  doubling  all  its 
forces  in  a  decade.  It  included  Canada  during  the  whole 
period. 

In  the  latter  country  now  appeared,  (in  1805.)  for  the  first 
time,  two  very  important  men,  Henry  Eyan  and  William 
Case.  The  former  we  have  already  met  in  Yermont,  where 
he  began  his  ministry  in  1800,  an  energetic  Irishman,  and  one 
of  the  sturdiest  itinerants  of  his  day.  William  Case  will  ever 
rank  as  one  of  the  noblest  acquisitions  of  the  ministry.  He 
was  one  of  the  .original  members  of  the  Genesee  Conference, 
and  one  of  its  first  three  presiding  elders  in  1810 ;  Draper  and 
Eyan  being  the  two  others.  For  eighteen  years  he  had  charge 
of  Districts — the  Cayuga,  Oneida,  Chenango,  Lower  Canada, 
Upper  Canada,  and  Bay  of  Quinte.     In  1828  he  was  appointed 


454  HISTORY    OF    THE 

superintendent  of  Indian  missions  and  schools  in  Canada,  and 
in  1830  general  superintendent  of  the  Methodist  Societies  in 
the  province.  In  1852  he  was  allowed  to  travel  and  preach  at 
large  through  the  province  till  his  death  in  1855.  He  was  es- 
teemed for  years  as  the  patriarch  and  leader  of  Canadian 
Methodism,  the  chief  of  its  great  mission  field,  a  truly  apos- 
tolic man,  fervid,  genial,  prudent,  attractive  and  effective  in 
the  pulpit,  and  singularly  successful  and  beloved  among  the 
Indians. 

In  1806  Canada  has  two  Districts,  and  twelve  Circuits,  in- 
cluding two  pertaining  to  New  York  Conference.  Samuel 
Coate  is  at  Montreal,  and  Nathan  Bangs  at  Quebec.  A  Lower 
Canada  District  appears  in  the  Minutes,  and  a  mission  to  its 
French  population  is  added  to  the  appointments.  In  1808  the 
first  report  of  members  in  Quebec  appears — hardly  more  than 
a  single  "  class  " — thirteen  in  number.  Methodism,  however, 
was  destined  to  find  a  stronghold  in  that  city,  though  long 
harassed  by  public  prejudice  and  the  coming  war.  In  1809 
Detroit,  Mich.,  is  reached  by  Case.  At  the  organization  of 
the  Genesee  Conference  in  1810  the  Upper  Canada  District 
was  placed  under  its  jurisdiction,  while  that  of  Lower  Canada 
was  retained  by  New  York  Conference ;  there  were  not  yetr 
however,  two  hundred  members  in  all  the  ~&ve  appointments 
of  the  latter.  The  whole  country  now  became  alarmed  hj  the 
omens  of  the  approaching  war,  and,  in  the  next  year,  none  of 
the  preachers  went  to  the  Conferences  in  the  States.  No 
returns  of  members  reached  the  Genesee  Conference  from  the 
upper  province,  but,  in  the  lower,  Montreal  reported  more 
than  fifty,  Quebec  about  half  that  number,  Ottawa  Circuit 
about  a  hundred,  and  that  of  the  St.  Francis  River  one  hundred 
and  twenty.  Bangs  was  appointed  to  Montreal,  but  did  not 
reach  it  on  account  of  the  military  obstructions  between  the 
two  countries.  Thomas  Bureh  was  sent  to  Quebec,  and  made 
his  way  thither;  Luckey,  appointed  to  St.  Francis,  failed 
to  get  there.  Robert  Hibbard,  a  native  of  New  York,  who 
had  joined  its  Conference  in  1809,  and  for  two  years  had 
labored  faithfully  in  Canada,  where  he  had  formed  the  St. 
Francis  Circuit,  gathering  upon  it  more   than   a  hundred 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  455 

members,  consented  to  return  notwithstanding  the  troubled 
times.  He  reached  the  Ottawa  Circuit,  and  kept  to  his  work, 
though  the  provincial  government  had,  by  proclamation, 
ordered  all  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  leave  the  country. 
Learning  that  the  preachers  for  the  St.  Francis  Circuit,  so  dear 
to  him  as  his  own  work,  had  not  arrived,  he  resolved  to  go 
thither  and  encourage  the  Churches  under  their  new  trials. 
He  reached  Montreal,  but  in  his  further  progress  was  drowned 
in  the  St.  Lawrence ;  his  horse  escaped  to  the  shore,  but  the 
evangelical  hero  was  borne  away,  and  was  seen  "going  down 
with  his  hands  lifted  toward  heaven."  His  body  was  never 
found.  *  He  was  a  sanctified  man,  "studious,"  and  "inde- 
fatigable," and,  say  his  brethren  in  their  Minutes,  "  entered 
the  watery  grave  to  rise  again  to  a  glorious  immortality  at  the 
last  day."  Asbury  delivered  a  "  funeral  sermon "  on  the 
event  before  the  next  New  York  Conference. 

In  1813  the  war  had  cut  off  all  communication  between  the 
Churches  of  the  two  countries.  The  preachers  could  not  attend 
the  Genesee  Conference,  but  they  met  together  and  made  their 
own  appointments  as  best  they  could.  At  the  close  of  the  con- 
test, in  1815,  the  Genesee  Conference  resumed  its  care  of  the 
country.  Case  was  appointed  presiding  elder  of  Upper  Cana- 
da District,  Ryan  of  that  of  Lower  Canada.  There  were  now 
but  nine  Circuits  and  twelve  preachers.  Montreal  and  Quebec 
were  unsupplied ;  but  the  British  Conference  sent  over  three 
missionaries  for  these  stations,  and  thus  was  brought  on  the 
question  of  territorial  jurisdiction,  which  subsequently  led  to 
no  small  amount  of  discussion  and  negotiation,  but  was  at  last 
amicably  settled,  with  more  intimate  relations  between  the 
two  bodies  than  ever  had  existed  since  the  organization  of 
the  American  Church.  The  war  ended  with  a  loss  of  nearly 
one  half  the  membership  in  Canada,  the  returns  of  1815 
amounting  to  but  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-five. 
But  Methodism  was  too  vital  to  suffer  long  from  such  a  cause. 
The  next  year  the  Minutes  show  eleven  Circuits,  with  sixteen 
preachers,  and  two  thousand  five  hundred  members.  They  had 
yet  but  eleven  churches  or  "meeting-houses,"  all  built  of 
wood,  except  that  of  Montreal,  which  was  of  stone,  but  small. 


456  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Freer  scope  than  ever  was  now  given  to  the  denomination  in 
the  Canadas.  In  1817  the  Genesee  Conference,  many  of  whose 
preachers  were  cnrions  to  see  their  foreign  territory,  held  its 
session  at  Elizabethtown,  beyond  the  boundary.  About  eighty 
of  them  assembled  there,  including  twenty-two  Canadian  itin- 
erants. Enoch  George  presided,  and  the  occasion  was  a  jubilee 
to  the  Church  in  the  wilderness.  It  was  estimated  that  one 
hundred  souls  were  awakened  at  the  session,  and  a  flame  of 
religious  excitement  spread  out  among  the  Circuits,  so  that  an 
increase  of  one  thousand  four  hundred  members  the  ensuing 
year  was  attributed  to  this  first  Canadian  Conference.  The 
Gospel  was  now  preached  in  every  English  settlement-  of  Up- 
per Canada,  for  Methodism,  besides  its  itinerants,  traveling 
immense  Circuits,  had  a  large  corps  of  local  preachers  and  ex- 
horters,  who  were  kept  incessantly  at  work.  Meanwhile  the 
British  Conference  continued  to  send  out  Wesley  an  mission- 
aries. There  were  nine  of  them  in  the  country  in  1818,  who 
extended  their  labors  even  to  Toronto  and  the  Bay  of  Quinte, 
and  thus  further  complicated  the  question  of  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction.  Correspondence  between  the  American  bishops 
and  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Committee,  London,  followed ; 
the  relations  of  the  two  Churches  were  cordial,  but  unsettled 
in  respect  to  the  province,  and  could  not  be  adjusted  till  the 
next  General  Conference,  when  EmOry  was  dispatched  to 
England  for  the  purpose. 

In  1820  the  Genesee  Conference  again  met  in  Canada. 
There  were  now  in  Upper  Canada  sixteen  clergymen  of  the 
Church  of  England,  fifteen  Presbyterian  and  Congregational, 
and  eighteen  Baptist  preachers.  The  Methodist  itinerants 
(including  the  Wesleyan  missionaries)  were  thirty-three,  be- 
sides forty-seven  local  preachers  and  sixty-five  exhorters.  The 
actual  working  ministry  of  Methodism  must  now  have  consti- 
tuted more  than  one  half  of  the  pastoral  supply  of  the  prov- 
ince. The  number  of  Methodists  in  the  country  (including  the 
Wesleyan  charges)  amounted  to  six  thousand  three  hundred. 
They  had  much  more  than  trebled  in  these  sixteen  years, 
though  they  had  thus  far  only  been  planting  in  the  wilderness 
the  germs  of  that  harvest  which  was  to  yield,  in  our  day, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  457 

nearly  one  hundred  thousand  members  in  the  various  Method- 
ist communions,  and  nearly  a  thousand  traveling  preachers, 
with  Indian  missions,  publishing  houses,  periodicals,  colleges, 
academies,  and  churches,  many  of  them  costly  edifices,  adorn- 
ing the  whole  settled  country.  They  were  to  keep  pace  with 
emigration,  and  reach  westward  to  the  Pacific  coast,  and 
eastward,  till  they  should  blend  with  the  Methodism  planted 
by  Coughland,  M'Greary,  Black,  and  Grarrettson  on  the  At- 
lantic coast,  and  the  denomination  become  the  most  effective 
religious  force  of  British  North  America. 

The  period  closes  then  with  a  remarkable  exhibit  of  strength 
and  prospect  for  the  middle  and  northern  fields  of  the  denom- 
ination. Not  merely  their  numerical  growth  from  two  to  three 
Conferences,  from  40,415  to  82,215  members,  and  from  135  to 
297  preachers,  more  than  doubling  their  force  in  these  sixteen 
years,  in  spite  of  secessions  in  Philadelphia  and  New  York ; 
but  the  intellectual  advancement  of  their  ministry,  the  rapid 
erection  of  church  edifices,  the  ever  memorable  organization 
of  the  general  Missionary  Society,  the  beginning  of  periodical 
publications,  and  the  recommencement  of  academic  institu- 
tions, (all  three  events  in  New  York  city,)  render  this  one  of 
the  most  imposing  epochs  of  American  Methodism. 


458  HISTORY   OF   THE 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

METHODISM  IN  THE  EASTERN"  STATES:    1804-1820. 

The  present  period  (1804-1820)  opens  with  a  host  of  able  men 
in  the  eastern  itinerancy,  most  of  whose  names  are  already 
familiar  to  ns  :  Moriarty,  Crowell,  Crawford,  Beale,  Brodhead, 
Ruter,  Hedding,  Soule,  Ostrander,  Washburn,  Pickering, 
Kibby,  Jayne,  Snelling,  Webb,  Joshua  Taylor,  Munger,  Heath, 
Hilman,  Merwin,  Chichester,  Sabin,  Kent,  and  many  others. 
Recruits,  not  a  few  of  whom  have  survived  till  our  day,  were 
to  be  rapidly  added  to  the  ranks :  in  1804  Lewis  Bates ;  in 
1806  Joel  Steele,  Caleb  Fogg,  Solomon  Sias;  1807  Charles 
Virgin,  Joseph  A.  Merrill;  1808  Isaac  Bonney,  William 
Swayze,  David  Kilbourn ;  1809  John  Lindsay,  George  Gary, 
Benjamin  R.  Hoyt,  Coles  Carpenter,  Amasa  Taylor,  Ebenezer 
F.  Newell,  Edward  Hyde;  1811  Thomas  Norris,  Daniel  Fill- 
more ;  1812  Jacob  Sanborn,  John  Adams,  Thomas  Tucker, 
Joseph  Ireson;  1813  Yan  Rensselaer  Osborn  ;  1814  Thomas 
C.  Pierce,  Bartholomew  Otheman ;  1815  John  Lord,  Nathan 
Payne ;  1816  Daniel  Dorchester,  Moses  Fifield ;  and,  toward 
the  close  of  the  period,  increasing  numbers  of  familiar  names, 
Jennison,  Wiley,  Hascall,  Fisk,  Taylor,  Stoddard,  Horton, 
Crandall,  Baker — a  bald  list  of  names,  but  if  of  little  interest 
to  the  general  reader,  yet  all  of  them  mementoes  of  precious 
memories  to  New  England  Methodists.  Many  others  of  the 
same  dates,  and  of  hardly  less  importance,  could  be  added  ;  not 
a  few  of  the  humblest  of  them  men  of  heroic  character,  whose 
travels  and  labors,  in  many  instances,  extended  through  half  a 
century,  and  from  Canada  to  Long  Island  Sound. 

The  appearance  of  Wilbur  Fisk  in  the  ministry  in  1818  may 
be  said  to  have  dated  a  new  epoch  in  New  England  Method- 
ism. A  man  of  intrinsic  greatness;  of  the  highest  style  of 
Christian  character ;   of  rare  pulpit  eloquence,  full  of  grace, 


^■'A 


C 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  459 

dignity,  and  power,  lie  was  also  the  first  Methodist  .preacher 
of  the  Eastern  States  who  had  the  advantages  of  a  collegiate 
education ;  a  fact  of  no  little  importance  among  the  people  of 
New  England.  No  man  did  more  to  redeem  his  Church  from 
the  imputation  of  ignorance,  not  to  say  the  contempt,  with 
which  it  had  been  branded  among  the  trained  clergy  of  those 
States;  for,  notwithstanding  the  ministerial  competence  and 
greatness  of  such  men  as  Merritt,  Euter,  Soule,  and  Hedding, 
their  commission  had  been  generally  discredited,  beyond  their 
own  people,  for  lack  of  academic  diplomas.  Fisk  led  up  the 
whole  Methodism  of  the  East  in  educational  enterprise,  min- 
isterial culture,  and  public  influence ;  while  his  saintly  life 
presented  a  model  of  Christian  character,  which  impressed-  his 
entire  denomination,  not  only  in  New  England,  but  through- 
out all  the  land,  for  his  usefulness  and  reputation  became 
national.  In  1830  he  was  called  to  the  presidency  of  the 
"Wesleyan  University,  Middletown,  Conn.,  of  which  he  was 
one  of  the  founders.  In  1835  his  enfeebled  health  compelled 
him  to  make  a  voyage  to  Europe,  where  he  officially  represent- 
ed American  Methodism  -in  the  Wesleyan  Conference.  He 
was  elected  bishop  of  his  Church  while  absent,  but  declined 
the  episcopal  office  in  favor  of  his  function  as  an  educator. 
Eeturning,  he  continued  his  labors  in  the  Wesleyan  University 
with  declining  health,  but  unabated  devotion,  till  his  death. 
Wilbur  Fisk's  person  bespoke  his  character.  It  was  of  good 
size,  and  remarkable  for  its  symmetry.  His  features  were  har- 
monious, the  contour  strongly  resembling  the  better  Eoman  out- 
line. His  eye  was  nicely  defined,  and,  when  excited,  beamed 
with  a  peculiarly  benign  and  conciliatory  expression.  His 
complexion  was  bilious,  and  added  to  the  diseased  indica- 
tion of  his  somewhat  attenuated  features.  His  head  was  a 
model  not  of  great,  but  of  well-proportioned  development.  It 
had  the  height  of  the  Eoman  brow,  though  not  the  breadth  of 
the  Greek.  His  voice  was  peculiarly  flexible  and .  sonorous. 
A  catarrhal  disease  affected  it ;  but  just  enough,  during  most 
of  his  life,  to  improve  its  tone  to  a  soft  orotund,  without 
a  trace  of  nasal  defect.  It  rendered  him  a  charming  singer, 
and  was  an  instrument  of  music  to  him  in  the  pulpit.     With- 


460  HISTORY    OF    THE 

out  appearing  to  use  it  designedly  for  vocal  effect,  it  was  never- 
theless an  important  means  of  impression  to  his  sermons.     Few 
men  could  indicate  the  moral  emotions  more  effectually  by 
mere  tones.     It  was  especially  expressive  in  pathetic  passages. 
If  genius  cannot  be  claimed  for  him,  nor  the  very  highest 
order  of  intellect,  yet  he  approached  both  so  nearly  as  to  com- 
mand the  admiration  of  the  best  cultivated  minds,  and  the 
almost  idolatrous  interest  of  the  people.     Good  vigor  in  all  his 
faculties,  and  good  balance  of  them  all,  were  his  chief  intellect- 
ual characteristics.     His  literary  acquisitions  were  not  great. 
The  American  collegiate  course  in  his  day  was  stinted.     After 
his  graduation  he  was  too  busy  to  study  much,  and  he  was  not 
a  great  reader.     His  resources  were  chiefly  in  himself;    in  his 
good  sense,  his  quick  sagacity,  his  generous  sensibilities,  and 
his  healthy  and  fertile  imagination.     He  possessed  the  latter 
power  richly,  though  it  never  ran  riot  in  his  discourses.     It 
was  an  auxiliary  to  his  logic,  an  exemplification  of  Dugald 
Stewart's  remark  on  the  intimate  relation  between  the  imag- 
ination and  the  reasoning  faculty  in  a  well-balanced  mind.     Its 
scintillations  were  the  sparkles  that  flew  about  the  anvil  on 
which  his  logic  plied  its  strokes.     His  style,  not  being  formed 
from  books,  was  the  natural  expression  of  his  vigorous  and 
exact  intellect ;  it  was  therefore  remarkable  for  its  simplicity 
and  terseness,  its  Saxon  purity  and  energy.     A  meretricious 
sentence  cannot  be  found  in  all  his  published  writings.     His 
polemical  writings  were  not  only  in  good  temper,  but  models 
of  luminous   and   forcible   argumentation.      His   sermon   on 
Calvinism  may  be  referred  to  as  an  example.     That  discourse, 
with  his  sermon  and  lectures  on  Universalism,  his  essays  on 
the  New  Haven  Divinity,  his  sermon  on  the  law  and  the 
Gospel,  his  tract  in  reply  to  Pierrepont  on  the  Atonement, 
etc.,  would  form  a  volume  which  the  Church  might  preserve 
as  no  ignoble  memorial  of  both  his  intellectual  and  moral 
character.     His  Travels  in  Europe,  though  containing  some 
examples  of  elaborate  reflection  and  picturesque  description, 
was  not  a  volume  of  superior  claims ;  it  had  too  much  of  the  ordi- 
nary guide-book  character.     His  moral  character  was  as  perfect 
as  that  of  any  man  whom  it  has  been  the  writer's  happiness  to 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  461 

know.  His  intimate  friends  will  admit  that  there  is  hardly  a 
possibility  of  speaking  too  favorably  of  him  in  this  respect.  It 
has  often  been  remarked  by  those  who  had  years  of  personal 
relations  with  him,  that  they  were  literally  at  a  loss  to  mention 
one  moral  defect  that  marred  the  perfect  beauty  of  his  nature. 
This  is  saying  very  much ;  it  is  saying  what  cannot  be  said  of 
one  man  perhaps  in  a  million;  but  it  can  be  deliberately  said 
of  this  saintly  man.  It  was  his  rare  moral  character,  more 
even  than  his  intellectual  eminence,  that  gave  him  such 
magical  influence,  and  rendered  him  so  successful  in  the 
government  of  literary  institutions.  All  about  him  felt  self- 
respect  in  respecting  him.  To  offend  him  was  a  self- inflic- 
tion which  even  the  audacity  of  reckless  youth  could  not 
brook.  In  1839,  in  the  forty-eight  year  of  his  age,  Wilbur 
Fisk  died  in  great  peace.  His  chamber  had  been  for  days 
sanctified,  as  it  were,  by  the  glory  of  the  Divine  Presence,  and 
his  broken  utterances  were  full  of  consolation,  and  triumph 
over  death.  "  Glorious  hope !  "  was  the  last  and  whispered 
expression  of  his  religious  feelings. 

Another  name  has  been  mentioned,  among  the  additions  to 
the  New  England  ministry,  in  this  period,  which  has  become 
as  familiar  to  Eastern  Methodists  as  that  of  Fisk ;  the  name  of 
a  man  whose  life,  like  that  of  not  a  few  others  in  the  Method- 
ist itinerancy,  forces  upon  the  historian  the  suspicion,  not  to 
say  the  discredit,  of  writing  "romance"  rather  than  fact. 
During  the  last  war  between  England  and  the  United  States 
lived,  in  an  obscure  suburb  of  the  city  of  Boston,  a  poor  but 
devoted  English  woman,  who,  having  lost  her  husband  soon 
after  her  emigration,  depended  for  her  subsistence  on  the  earn- 
ings of  her  needle.  She  opened  her  small  front  room  several 
times  a  week  for  a  prayer-meeting,  and  procured  the  aid  of  her 
Methodist  associates  in  conducting  it.  Much  of  the  good  seed 
thus  scattered  with  a  faith  that  hoped  against  hope,  and  in  a 
soil  that  seemed  utterly  arid,  produced  good  fruit.  Among 
the  attendants  at  the  meeting  was  a  young  mariner,  with  an 
intellectual  eye,  a  prepossessing  countenance,  and  the  generous 
susceptibilities  of  a  sailor's  heart.  Amid  the  corruptions  of  his 
associates  he  had  been  noted  for  his  temperance  and  excellent 


462  HISTORY    OF    THE 

disposition.     And  yet  this  child  of  the  sea  had  been  a  wanderer 
on  its  waves  from  his  earliest  years  ;   a  natural  superiority  of 
head  and  heart  had  raised  him  above  the  moral  perils  of  his 
lot.     His  fine  traits  interested  much  the  English  Methodist 
and  her  religious  friends,  and  they  could  not  but  hope  that 
God  would  make  some  use  of  him  among  his  comrades.     He 
had  received  no  education,  but  could  read  imperfectly.     She 
trusted  that  Providence  would  in  some  way  provide  for  his 
future  instruction  ;  but  he  was  suddenly  summoned  away  to 
sea.     He  had  been  out  but  a  short  time  when  the  vessel  was 
seized  by  a  British  ship,  and  carried  into  Halifax,  where  the 
crew  suffered  a  long  and  wretched  imprisonment.     A  year  had 
passed  away,  during  which  the  good  woman  had  heard  nothing 
of  the  young  mariner.     Her  hopes  of  him  were  abandoned  as 
extravagant,  in  view  of  his  unsettled   life,  and  its   peculiar 
impediments  to  his  improvement.     Still  she  remembered  and 
prayed  for  him  with  the  solicitude  of  a  mother.     About  this 
time  she  received  a  letter  from  her  kindred,  who  had  settled 
in    Halifax,   on    business  which   required    her    to    visit   that 
town.     While  there  her  habitual  disposition  to  be  useful  led 
her,  with  a  few  friends,  to  visit  the  prison  with  Tracts.     In 
one  apartment  were  the  American  prisoners ;  as  she  approached 
the  grated  door  a  voice  shouted  her  name,  calling  her  u  moth- 
er," and  a  youth  beckoned  and  leaped  for  joy  at  the  grate. 
It  was  the  lost  sailor  boy.     They  wept   and  conversed  like 
mother  and  son,  and  when  she  left  she  gave  him  a  Bible,  his 
future  guide  and  comfort.     During  her  stay  at  Halifax  she 
constantly  visited  the   prison,   supplying  him  with   religious 
books  and  clothing,  and  endeavoring,  by  her  conversation,  to 
strengthen  the  religious  impressions  made  on  his  mind  in  Bos- 
ton.    After  some  months  she  removed  to  a  distant  part  of  the 
province,  and  for  years  she  heard  nothing  more  of  the  youth. 
It  was  her  happiness  to  reside  again  in  Boston,  in  advanced 
life,  and  to  find  her  "  sailor  boy  "  the  chief  attraction  of  its 
pulpit,  in  times  when  Channing,  the   elder  Beecher,  Wain- 
wright,  and  other  men  of  national  reputation,  were  its  orna- 
ments.    Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  long  and  eminent 
ministry  of  Edward  T.  Taylor,  a  man  whose  fame  for  genius 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  463 

and  usefulness  became  general,  whose  extraordinary  character 
has  been  sketched  in  our  periodicals,  and  the  books  of  transat- 
lantic visitors,*  as  one  of  the  so-called  "lions"  of  the  city, 
whom  a  distinguished  critic  has  pronounced  the  greatest  poet 
of  the  land,  though  unable  to  write  a  stanza ;  and  a  mayor  of 
Boston  has  publicly  declared  to  be  a  more  effectual  protector 
of  the  peace  of  the  most  degraded  parts  of  the  city  than  any 
hundred  policemen. 

In  a  spacious  and  substantial  chapel,  crowded  about  by  the 
worst  habitations  of  the  city,  he  delivered  every  Sabbath,  for 
years,  discourses  the  most  extraordinary,  to  assemblies  also  as 
extraordinary  perhaps  as  could  be  found  in  the  Christian  world. 
In  the  center  column  of  seats,  guarded  sacredly  against  all 
other  intrusion,  sat  a  dense  mass  of  mariners — a  strange  med- 
ley of  white,  black,  and  olive — Protestant,  Catholic,  and  some- 
times pagan,  representing  many  languages,  unable,  probably, 
to  comprehend  each  other's  vocal  speech,  but  speaking  there 
the  same  language  of  intense  looks  and  flowing  tears,  for  the 
preacher  could  address  them  by  his  own,  and  his  gestures,  if 
not  by  words.  On  the  other  seats,  in  the  galleries,  the  aisles, 
the  altar,  and  on  the  pulpit  stairs,  crowded,  week  after  week,  and 
year  after  year,  (among  the  families  of  sailors,  and  the  poor,  who 
had  no  other  temple,)  the  elite  of  the  city,  the  learned  professor, 
the  student,  the  popular  writer,  the  actor,  groups  of  clergymen, 
and  the  votaries  of  fashion,  listening,  with  throbbing  hearts  and 
wet  eyes,  to  the  man  whose  chief  training  had  been  in  the  fore- 
castle, whose  only  endowments  were  those  of  grace  and  nature, 
but  whose  discourses  presented  the  strangest,  the  most  brilliant 
exhibition  of  sense,  epigrammatic  thought,  pathos,  and  humor, 
expressed  in  a  style  of  singular  pertinency,  spangled  over  by 
an  exhaustless  variety  of  the  finest  images,  and  pervaded  by  a 
spiritual  earnestness  that  subdued  all  listeners;  a  man  who 
could  scarcely  speak  three  sentences,  in  the  pulpit  or  out  of  it, 
without  presenting  a  striking  poetical  image,  a  phrase  of  rare 
beauty,  or  a  sententious  sarcasm,  and  the  living  examples  of 
whose  usefulness  are  scattered  over  the  seas. 

*  See  the  American  Travels  of  Miss  Martineau,  Buckingham,  Miss  Bremer, 
Mrs.  Jamieson,  and  Dickens. 


464  HISTORY    OF    THE 

He  was  born  in  Bichmond,  Ya.,  about  1793 ;  entered  the 
American  naval  service,  as  surgeon's  boy,  in  his  childhood ; 
was  some  time  in  the  Spanish  navy  in  the  Mexican  waters ; 
served  again  in  the  American  navy  at  New  Orleans ;  went  to 
Boston,  where  he  joined  a  privateer  in  the  war  of  1812,  and 
was  taken  prisoner  by  a  British  frigate  while  pursuing  a  Brit- 
ish brig.  After  an  imprisonment  of  six  months  he  returned  to 
Boston,  and,  under  the  ministrations  of  Hedding  and  Sabin, 
began  his  Methodist  career.  By  the  aid  of  an  eminent  Meth- 
odist layman,  Colonel  Binney,  he  had  three  months'  instruction 
at  New  Market  (N.  H.)  Seminary,  the  only  academic  education 
of  his  life. 

His  name  appears  in  the  Minutes,  for  the  first  time,  in  1819, 
when  he  was  received  into  the  New  England  Conference,  and 
appointed  to  Scituate  Circuit,  among  his  own  seafaring  people, 
under  the  presiding  eldership  of  Pickering ;  it  embraced  seven 
towns.  In  1820  he  was  at  Falmouth  and  Sandwich;  in  1821 
at  Sandwich  and  Harwich ;  1822,  Harwich  and  Barnstable ; 
1823,  Fairhaven  and  New  Bedford ;  1824,  Martha's  Vineyard ; 
1825,  Milford;  1826,  Bristol;  1827  and  1828,  Fall  Kiver  and 
Little  Compton.  Tn  his  rapidly  changed  appointments  he  had 
a  good  initiation  to  the  labors  and  trials  of  the  itinerancy. 
His  extraordinary  and  somewhat  eccentric  genius  had  attract- 
ed great  congregations ;  but  he  had  been  found  chiefly  useful 
among  seamen ;  the  Church,  therefore,  with  its  usual  policy 
of  placing  the  right  man  in  the  right  place,  commissioned  him, 
in  1829,  as  chaplain  to  mariners  in  the  metropolis  of  New  En- 
gland. His  impression  on  the  public  mind  of  Boston  was 
immediate  and  most  vivid.  -  The  high  culture  of  many  of  its 
citizens  fitted  them  the  better  to  appreciate  the  unquestionable 
genius  and  marvelous  eloquence  of  the  uncultivated  preacher. 
He  projected  a  Mariners  Church,  and,  after  he  had  labored 
hard  in  other  parts  of  the  country  to  collect  funds  for  its  erec- 
tion, the  people  of  Boston,  without  regard  to  sectarian  distinc- 
tions, took  it  in  hand,  completed  it,  effectively  endowed  it,  and 
gave  it,  a  "  Mariner's  Home,"  thus  securing  to  the  preacher  a 
life-long  sphere  of  remarkable  power  to  which  the  Church  has 
ever  since  annually  appointed  him. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  465 

During  most  of  this  period,  down  to  1816,  when  Joshua 
Soule  was  appointed  to  the  Book  Concern,  New  York,  he 
was  the  chief  itinerant  in  Maine,  traveling,  in  the  outset,  its 
only  District,  which  comprehended  all  its  Methodist  territory ; 
with  Joshua  Taylor,  Hunger,  Heath,  Hillman,  Baker,  Kibby, 
Yirgin,  Buter,  Newell,  and  similar  men  under  him.  The 
whole  state  was  now  resounding  with  the  sound  of  the  Gospel 
by  their  ministrations.  Hedding  labored  during  these  times  in 
Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  and 
Maine,  mostly  on  immense  districts,  which  extended  over  sev- 
eral of  the  states.  About  midway  of  the  period  he  thus  re- 
views his  work :  "  I  have  averaged  over  three  thousand  miles 
travel  a  year,  and  preached  on  an  average  a  sermon  a  day 
since  I  commenced  the  itinerant  life.  I  have  never  in  this 
time  owned  a  traveling  vehicle,  but  have  ridden  on  horseback, 
except  occasionally  in  winter,  when  I  have  borrowed  a  sleigh, 
and  also  a  few  instances  in  which  I  have  traveled  by  public 
conveyance  or  a  borrowed  carriage.  I  have  both  labored  hard 
and  fared  hard.  Until  recently  I  have  had  no  dwelling-place 
or  home ;  but,  as  a  wayfaring  man,  lodged  from  night  to  night 
where  hospitality  and  friendship  opened  the  way.  I  have 
traveled  many  a  day  in  summer  and  winter  without  dinner, 
because  I  had  not  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  that  I  could  spare  to 
buy  it.  Such  are  some  of  the  difficulties  the  Methodist  preach- 
ers have  been  compelled  to  encounter,  especially  in  New  En- 
gland, during  the  past  ten  years.  But  notwithstanding  all, 
God  has  been  with  us.  Revivals  have  spread  through  all  the 
country,  and  multitudes  have  been  added  to  the  little  and 
despised  flock."  Pickering  labored  mostly  about  Boston,  and 
on  the  Boston  District  as  presiding  elder,  his  field  in  the  latter 
appointment  extending  from  the  end  of  Cape  Cod  to  Provi- 
dence, R.  I.,  from  Marblehead  to  the  interior  of  New  Hamp- 
shire ;  Kibby,  Snelling,  Webb,  Hunger,  Herwin,  Kent,  Hyde, 
Merrill,  Sabin,  Brodhead,  Lindsay,  and  many  more  such  men,. 
being  under  his  command.  Ruter,  returning  from  his  Cana- 
dian labors,  traveled  in  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  and 
Maine,  but  mostly  in  New  Hampshire,  where  he  followed 
Hedding  in  1809,  on  a  District  so  large  that  it  bore  the  name 

30 


4G6  HISTORY   OF   THE 

of  the  State.  New  Hampshire's  single  District,  with  its  five 
Circuits,  nine  preachers,  and  one  thousand  members  of  1804, 
was  to  double  all  its  numerical  force  before  the  close  of  these 
years.  The  period  began  in  Vermont  with  some  five  Circuits, 
seven  preachers,  and  a  few  scattered  members,  under  the  pre- 
siding eldership  of  Joseph  Crawford,  whose  District  extended 
into  Massachusetts,  on  the  one  hand,  and  Canada  on  the  other. 
It  closed  there  with  fully  doubled  strength.  The  two  Districts 
which  comprehended  the  earlier  occupied  fields — Massachu- 
setts, Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut — at  its  beginning,  much 
more  than  doubled  all  their  statistics  by  its  close. 

Lee  once  more  passed  over  the  scene.  After  an  absence  of 
eight  years  in  the  South,  he  was  anxious  to  revisit  his  early 
eastern  battle-fields,  and  see  how  the  contest  still  went  on. 
His  passage  was  a  humble  but  exultant  religious  ovation.  In 
the  latter  part  of  June,  1808,  he  arrived  at  Norwalk,  Conn., 
the  village  on  whose  highway  he  had  preached  his  first  sermon 
in  New  England.  u  He  was  much  gratified,"  says  his  biog- 
rapher, "in  saluting,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  some  of 
his  friends  of  former  days.  Almost  twenty  years  had  passed 
away  since  he  first,  as  a  stranger,  entered  this  part  of  the 
world."  With  tears  and  benedictions  and  last  farewells,  all 
along  his  route,  he  reaches  Boston  on  Thursday,  the  21st,  and 
finds  the  same  evening  a  congregation  ready  to  hear  him  in 
the  old  church,  and  another,  the  next  night,  in  the  new.  By 
Saturday  he  is  with  his  first  Society,  in  Massachusetts,  at 
Lynn.  They  call  on  him  at  the  parsonage  in  the  evening. 
The  next  day  being  the  Sabbath  he  preaches  to  them  in  the 
morning,  with  much  effect,  from  Isa.  xxxiii,  13.  "  It  was,"  he 
writes,  "  an  affecting  time.  When  I  put  the  brethren  in  mind 
of  my  first  coming  among  them,  and  the  difficulties  that  I,  as 
well  as  they,  had  to  go  through,  they  could  not  forbear  weep- 
ing." By  Friday,  the  30th,  he  is  in  Maine,  the  field  of  his 
hardest  conflicts.  The  people  flock  to  hear  him  on  all  his 
route,  and  have  often  to  leave  their  chapels  and  turn  into  the 
woods  for  room.  At  Monmouth,  where  the  first  Society  was 
formed,  they  cannot  get  into  the  house ;  many,  after  the  serv- 
ice, come  to  the  altar  to  give  him  their  hands  in  pledge  of 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  467 

meeting  him  in  heaven.  "  They  wept,"  he  says,  "  and  I 
could  not  refrain  from  weeping."  Soule  and  Fogg  are  with 
him  there.  The  preachers  generally  gather  about  him  as  he 
passes  along,  saluting  him  as  an  old  leader  and  conqueror,  and 
joining  in  the  jubilatic  gatherings  of  the  people.  Passing 
through  many  towns,  with  similar  greetings,  he  enters  New 
Hampshire,  having  spent  forty-three  days  and  preached  forty- 
seven  times  in  Maine.  He  gives  nearly  a  week  and  seven  fare- 
well sermons  to  the  former.  After  spending  six  days  and 
delivering  seven  sermons  in  Connecticut,  he  reaches  G-arrett- 
son's  "  Traveler's  Eest,"  at  Rhinebeck,  on  the  last  day  of 
September.  Thus  ended  Lee's  personal  connection  with 
Methodism  in  New  England.  His  historical  connection  with 
it  will  probably  last  till  the  consummation  of  all  things.  He 
survived  this  visit  about  eight  years,  during  which  he  contin- 
ued to  labor  indefatigably  in  the  Middle  and  Southern  States. 
Through  the  remainder  of  this  period  the  history  of  the 
Church  in  the  Eastern  States  was  a  continuous  repetition  of 
such  events  and  scenes  as  have  been  narrated  :  the  holding  of 
obscure  Annual  Conferences,  where,  however,  great  things 
were  devised  ;  gradual  additions  of  Circuits,  and  reinforcements 
of  the  ministry  by  such  men  as  have  already  been  named  ;  the 
building  of  churches,  and  frequent  "  revivals,"  sometimes  ex- 
tending over  much  of  the  country,  especially  now  that  camp- 
meetings  were  introduced ;  excessive  travels,  privations,  and 
labors  by  the  itinerants;  not  unfrequent  persecutions  and 
mobs  ;  but  continual  triumphs.  The  first  decade  of  the  cen- 
tury ended  with  Methodism  established  in  all  the  New  England 
States.  It  had  one  extensive  Conference,  and  a  large  portion 
of  a  Second.  The  four  Districts  with  which  it  began  the  cen- 
tury  had  increased  to  eight ;  its  thirty-two  Circuits  to  seventy- 
one  ;  its  fifty-eight  preachers  to  one  hundred  and  fourteen,  and 
its  five  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-nine  members  to 
seventeen  thousand  five  hundred  and  ninety-two.  In  ten 
years  its  Districts  had  doubled,  its  Circuits  considerably  more 
than  doubled,  its  ministry  lacked  but  two  of  being  doubled, 
and  its  membership  had  more  than  trebled.  It  had  gained  in 
these  ten  years  eleven  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty-three 


468  HISTOEY    OF   THE 

members,  an  average  increase  of  more  than  one  thousand  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  each  year,  or  nearly  one  hundred 
per  month.  At  the  close  of  the  second  decade  its  member- 
ship numbered  nearly  twenty-five  thousand,  its  ministry  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  traveling,  and  some  hundreds  of  local 
preachers.  Such  were  the  beginnings  and  early  growths  of 
that  great  harvest  which,  by  the  centenary  of  American  Meth- 
odism, (1866,)  was  to  yield  in  New  England  one  hundred  and 
three  thousand  four  hundred  and  seventy -two  members,  and 
about  a  thousand  traveling  preachers,  with  nearly  nine  hun- 
dred chapels,  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  Sunday-school 
students,  and  thirteen  educational  institutions,  including  a 
university,  a  theological  school,  and  boarding  academies. 
The  vitality  of  Methodism  would  be  tested  in  New  England, 
if  anywhere  ;  the  result  has  been  most  satisfactory.  The  in- 
crease of  members,  from  the  beginning  of  the  century,  has 
been  eighteenfold.  Through  every  decade  save  one  (1840- 
1850)  the  denomination  has  gained  upon  the  growth  of  the 
population,  notwithstanding  the  rapid  ingress  of  foreign 
Papists.  It  has  become,  in  our  day,  in  New  England  aggre- 
gately, the  second  denomination  in  numerical  strength,  and 
the  first  in  progress.  In  the  metropolis  itself  it  makes  more 
rapid  progress  than  any  other  Protestant  denomination,  and 
its  churches  are  among  the  best  architectural  monuments  of 
the  city. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUKOH.  469 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

METHODISM  IN  THE  WEST :    1804-1820. 

Again  we  turn  to  the  "  great  West,"  the  scene,  in  our  day,  of 
the  greatest  triumphs  of  Methodism.  In  the  outset  (1804)  it  is 
still  the  one  "  Western  Conference,"  with  its  four  Districts.  In 
1806  the  Mississippi  District  appears  in  the  Minutes,  under 
Larner  Blackman.  The  successors  of  Tobias  Gibson,  seven 
adventurous  itinerants,  are  invading  the  great  Southwest.  In 
1813  the  Northwestern  Territory  becomes  an  Annual  Confer- 
ence, by  order  of  the  General  Conference  of  1812,  under  the 
title  of  Ohio.  It  comprehends  much  of  Kentucky,  and  has  six 
Districts.  The  name  of  the  old  "  Western  Conference  "  disap- 
pears, and  that  of  Tennessee  is  first  recorded,  with  seven  grand 
Districts.  In  1817,  by  the  legislation  of  the  General  Confer- 
ence of  1816,  the  Western  field  has  four  Conferences :  Ohio, 
with  five  Districts,  under  Finley,  Jacob  and  David  Young, 
Moses  Crume,  and  Samuel  Parker;  Missouri,  with  two  Dis- 
tricts, under  Samuel  H.  Thompson  and  Jesse  Walker;  Ten- 
nessee, with  six  Districts,  under  Marcus  Lindsey,  Thomas  L. 
Douglass,  John  M'Gee,  James  Axley,  Jesse  Cunningham,  and 
John  Henninger ;  and  Mississippi,  with  two  Districts,  under 
Thomas  Griffin  and  Ashley  Hewitt.  The  ecclesiastical  arrange- 
ments of  the  vast  field  remained  thus,  with  some  local  varia- 
tions and  a  rapid  multiplication  of  Districts,  Circuits,  preachers, 
and  members,  down  to  the  expiration  of  our  present  period, 
when  the  General  Conference  of  1820  created  the  Kentucky 
Conference,  with  five  Districts.  Such  was  the  geography  of 
Western  Methodism  in  these  years.  We  are  now  prepared  to 
look  over  it  more  in  detail,  though  it  must  be  with  but  glances. 
Extraordinary  triumphs  of  the  Gospel,  and  men  of  gigantic 
proportions,  intellectual  and  moral,  multiply  too  fast  in  the 
grand  arena  for  our  space. 


470  HISTORY    OF    THE 

I  have  recorded  the  rapid  outspread  of  Methodism  in  the 
ultra- Alleghany  regions  of  Pennsylvania,  the  "  Redstone  coun- 
try." It  advanced  victoriously  there  throughout  the  present 
period,  blending  on  the  North  with  the  southwestern  appoint- 
ments of  the  Genesee  Conference ;  on  the  West  with  the  Cir- 
cuits of  the  itinerants  from  Kentucky,  who  were  now  ranging 
through  nearly  all  the  sparse  settlements  of  Ohio ;  on  the  South 
with  the  labors  of  the  mountaineer  itinerants  of  the  Holston 
country.  It  was  still  a  presiding  elder's  District  till  1825, 
when  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  was  organized,  comprehend- 
ing all  the  appointments  in  two  large  Districts,  the  Erie  and 
the  Ohio.  A  renowned  ecclesiastical  body  was  this  "  old  Pitts- 
burgh Conference"  to  become;  thronged  with  notable  men, 
constituting  the  chief  northern  stronghold  of  Methodism  be- 
tween the  East  and  the  West,  and  yielding  at  last  the  Erie 
Conference  on  its  north,  and  the  Western  Virginia  on  its  south. 

Methodism  had  effectually,  though  slowly,  broken  into  the 
Western  Reserve  by  the  labors  of  Shewel  and  Bostwick.  The 
former  a  local  preacher,  whom  we  have  seen  working  for  the 
Church  in  Western  Virginia,  and  penetrating  to  the  Reserve 
at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  now  rejoiced  in  the  spiritual 
harvest  around  him,  and,  after  toiling  through  the  week  with 
his  hands,  went  about  on  Sunday,  usually  on  foot,  to  distant 
settlements,  holding  meetings  and  organizing  societies.  Like 
M'Cormick,  of  Ohio,  and  other  lay  evangelists,  he  was  prac- 
tically an  apostle  in  the  wilderness.  He  even  moved  his  resi- 
dence to  extend  his  religious  labors.  Passing  from  Deerfield 
he  settled  in  Hartstown,  Portage  County,  Ohio,  in  1814,  and 
began  preaching  in  all  the  neighboring  regions,  besides  turning 
his  own  cabin  into  a  Sabbath  "  appointment."  He  formed 
many  classes.  "  Thus,"  says  the  local  historian,  "  did  this 
faithful  old  pioneer  find  his  way  into  the  new  settlements, 
breaking  up  new  ground,  and  after  raising  up  Societies,  he 
would  hand  them  over  to  the  preachers  on  the  Circuit,  and 
then  seek  out  new  places  of  labor."  Jacob  Young,  whom  we 
have  met  in  Kentucky  and  the  Holston  Mountains,  traveled 
this  District  for  three  years  like  a  herald,  directing,  and  inspir- 
iting with  his  own  energy,  a  powerful  corps  of  preachers,  who 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    OHUKCH.  471 

made  their  way  to  the  obscurest  settlements.  They  reached  at 
last  (about  1812)  the  place  where  Thomas  Branch  had  met  his 
affecting  death  in  the  wilderness  on  his  way  from  New  England 
to  the  far  West,  as  heretofore  recorded.  It  was  called  North 
East,  and  is  in  Erie  County,  Pa.  There  was  not  a  Methodist 
within  twenty  miles  of  the  dying  hero,  but  Young's  pioneers 
soon  formed  a  Society  on  the  spot,  some  of  its  members  prob- 
ably being  the  fruits  of  Branch's  last  exhortations  and  prayers. 
A  local  preacher  from  Canada  built  his  cabin  there,  and  did 
good  service  for  the  young  Society.  A  chapel  was  erected, 
"and,"  says  the  historian,  "  the  Church  has  maintained  a  pros- 
perous existence  ever  since,  and  many  happy  spirits  have  gone 
up  from  that  town  to  join  the  triumphant  host  in  heaven." 
An  important  western  character  appeared  in  this  field  in  1816. 
Young  failed  to  reach  the  District  after  the  General  Conference 
of  that  year;  James  B.  Finley  came  to  supply  his  place,  and 
continued  to  superintend  it  till  1819  with  extraordinary  zeal 
and  success.  Few  men  have  attained  more  distinction  as  evan- 
gelical pioneers  of  the  West;  he  was,  in  all  respects,  a  genuine 
child  of  the  wilderness,  one  of  its  best  M  typical "  men  ;  of  stal- 
wart frame,  "  features  rather  coarse,"  but  large  benevolent 
eyes,  u  sandy  hair,  standing  erect,"  a  good,  expressive  mouth, 
a  "  voice  like  thunder,"  and  a  courage  that  made  riotous  op- 
posers  (whom  he  often  encountered)  quail  before  him.  He  did 
not  hesitate  to  seize  disturbers  of  his  meetings,  shake  them  in 
his  athletic  grasp,  and  pitch  them  out  of  the  windows  or  doors. 
Withal  his  heart  was  most  genial,  his  discourses  full  of  pathos, 
and  his  friendships  the  most  tender  and  lasting.  All  over  the 
Northwest  he  worked  mightily,  through  a  long  life,  to  found 
and  extend  his  Church,  traveling  Circuits  and  Districts,  labor- 
ing as  missionary  to  the  Indians,  and  chaplain  to  prisoners, 
and  in  his  old  age  making  valuable  historical  contributions  to 
its  literature.  William  Swayze  succeeded  Finley  on  the  Dis- 
trict in  1819.  "  He  was,"  says  a  western  historian,  "  emphat- 
ically a  '  son  of  thunder,'  attracting  great  crowds  of  people  to 
his  ministry,  and  speaking  with  a  power  and  pathos  that  few 
have  ever  equaled,  moving  and  exciting  many,  some  to  tears, 
others  to  cry  for  mercy,  while  others  would  shout  for  joy." 


472  HISTORY    OF   THE 

His  fellow-laborers  pronounce  him  "a  martyr  to  his  work." 
"  He  was,"  says  our  western  authority,  who  knew  him  well, 
"a  very  remarkable  man,  differing  greatly  from  Finley,  Young, 
and  Gruber,  but  in  moving,  melting  eloquence  not  inferior  to 
either  of  them.  Himself  full  of  feeling  and  interest,  and  pos- 
sessing a  wonderful  command  of  the  feelings  of  others,  he 
would  at  times  sway  the  multitude  of  astonished  listeners  like 
trees  by  a  hurricane,  carrying  his  congregation  up  with  him, 
until  they  would  rise  from  their  seats  and  rush  toward  the 
speaker,  some  weeping,  some  shouting,  and  others  falling  like 
dead  men.  We  will  venture  the  opinion  that  more  souls,  along 
the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  have  gone  up  to  shine  like 
stars  in  the  heavenly  sky  through  the  instrumentality  of  Will- 
iam Swayze  than  by  that  of  any  other  man  dead  or  living." 

He  had  many  able  young  preachers  under  his  authority  on 
this  District ;  among  them  was  Charles  Elliott,  a  man  of  ex- 
traordinary learning,  of  tireless  labor  through  a  protracted  life, 
and  of  most  genial  character.  He  came  from  Ireland  to  the 
United  States  a  local  preacher  in  1814,  and  plunged  immedi- 
ately into  the  woods  of  Ohio.  For  years  he  was  a  principal 
founder  of  the  Church  as  circuit  preacher  and  presiding  elder 
in  these  regions,  and  one  year  he  spent  as  missionary  among 
the  Upper  Sandusky  Indians.  But  his  superior  education 
fitted  him  for  more  exigent  services,  as  professor  in  colleges, 
editor,  and  author.  Besides  his  fragmentary  writings,  (almost 
innumerable  editorials,  and  other  contributions  to  the  period- 
ical literature  of  the  Church,)  he  has  written  "  Delineations  of 
Koman  Catholicism,"  a  standard  work,  republished  in  England ; 
"Sinfulness  of  American  Slavery,"  an  exhaustive  investigation 
of  the  subject ;  and  the  "  History  of  the  Great  Secession  "  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  from  the  parent  body 
in  1844,  a  large  volume,  in  which  the  history  of  that  moment- 
ous proceeding  and  of  the  antecedent  ecclesiastical  controversy 
on  slavery  is  thoroughly  given. 

By  1820  Methodism  was  thoroughly  established  in  all  this 
country,  with  Districts  and  Circuits  belonging,  some  to  the 
Genesee,  some  to  the  Baltimore,  others  to  the  Virginia,  and 
still  others  to  the  Ohio  Conferences ;  more  than  half  a  hundred 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  473 

itinerants  were  sounding  the  Gospel  among  the  mountains 
and  valleys  from  Lake  Erie  to  far  into  West  Virginia,  and 
thousands  of  zealous  members  were  rallying  into  classes  and 
incipient  Churches.  They  were  laying  the  foundations  of  the 
Erie,  Pittsburgh,  and  West  Virginia  Conferences. 

Passing  further  westward,  into  the  "great  Northwestern 
Territory,"  we  again  meet  Quinn,  whom  we  have  so  often  fol- 
lowed over  the  ground  just  surveyed,  but  who  had  now  been 
borne  away  by  the  surges  of  emigration.  On  the  Sciota  Cir- 
cuit he  had  about  thirty  appointments,  the  nearest  being  fifty 
miles  from  his  family.  Emigrants  from  Kentucky  were  now 
pouring  into  this  region,  and  among  them  were  many  zealous 
Methodists.  At  one  of  his  meetings  "  a  very  dignified  and 
elderly  looking"  woman,  a  stranger,  remained  to  attend  the 
class,  in  which  she  said,  "  with  a  full  soul,  and  with  eyes 
swimming  in  tears,  '  I  am,  through  the  infinite  mercy  of  God, 
a  child  of  his,  and,  by  blessed  experience,  know  I  enjoy  the 
pardoning  love  of  the  Saviour.  I  am  a  widow,  recently  from 
Kentucky.  I  have  a  large  family  of  children.  I  have  trav- 
eled nine  or  ten  mil^s  to  enjoy  this  means  of  grace,  and  to 
invite  you  to  preach  in  my  cabin  for  the  benefit  of  my  chil- 
dren and  my  unconverted  neighbors.'  Her  words  were  with 
power,  and  it  was  manifest  that  the  love  of  Christ  constrained 
her,  that  she  was  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  While  she 
spoke,  the  same  flame  was  kindled  in  the  hearts  of  others,  and 
some  shouted  aloud  for  joy.  After  the  class  Quinn  learned 
that  the  stranger  was  Jane  Trimble,  mother  to  Governor 
Trimble,  and  grandmother  to  Joseph  M.  Trimble.  On  his 
next  round  he  preached  at  her  double  cabin,  on  Clear  Creek, 
three  miles  north  of  Hillsboro.  At  this  meeting,  it  is  prob- 
able, no  professor  of  religion  was  present  except  the  pious 
widow  and  the  preacher.  After  the  sermon,  as  there  was  no 
class  to  meet,  he  stated  that  it  was  his  last  round  on  the  Cir- 
cuit, and,  as  he  had  soon  to  leave  for  Conference,  he  could  not 
preach  to  them  any  more,  but  that  his  successors  would.  He 
then  sung  one  of  the  songs  of  Zion.  At  that  period  his  voice 
was  most  melodious  and  sweet.  The  tones  of  the  music,  ac- 
companied with  a  holy  unction,  melted  every  heart.     While 


474  HISTORY   OF   THE 

singing,  he  passed  through  the  room,  and  shook  hands  with 
every  one  present.  All  were  more  or  less  affected.  Young 
Mrs.  Trimble,  first  wife  of  Allen  Trimble,  and  mother  of 
Joseph  M.,  though  once  a  professor  of  religion,  became  con- 
scious of  her  backsliding  and  lukewarmness,  and  the  absolute 
necessity  of  the  reclaiming  grace  of  God.  Her  anguish  of 
spirit  was  so  great  that  she  could  conceal  it  no  longer.  She  first 
went  out  of  the  room ;  but,  finding  there  no  means  of  relief  to 
her  distressed  soul,  she  soon  returned,  and  kneeled  down  at  a 
seat.  Many  hearts  perhaps  sympathized  with  her,  but  there 
were  but  two  to  pray  for  her.  They  were,  however,  efficient 
suppliants,  and,  having  power  with  God,  they  soon  prevailed. 
In  a  short  time  the  earnest  seeker  was  powerfully  reclaimed ; 
and  such  was  the  clear  testimony  of  the  Spirit,  assuring  her 
that  her  soul  was  restored  to  the  favor  of  God,  that  she  praised 
the  Lord  with  but  little  intermission  till  midnight.  In  a  few 
years  she  passed  away  in  holy  triumph,  and  now  awaits  the 
arrival  of  her  friends  in  heaven." 

The  venerable  Jane  Trimble  became  a  "  mother  in  Israel " 
to  the  Methodists  of  the  Northwestern  territory.  Her  family, 
that  of  her  son,  Governor  Trimble,  and  of  her  grandson,  Joseph 
M.  Trimble,  (one  of  the  missionary  secretaries  of  the  Church,) 
have  been  identified  with  nearly  the  entire  history  of  the 
denomination  in  Ohio.  She  was  an  extraordinary  woman. 
Born  in  Virginia  in  1755,  on  the  very  borders  of  civilization, 
she  was  familiar,  from  childhood,  with  the  warwhoop  of  the 
savage.  Several  of  her  family  perished  in  the  Revolutionary 
and  Indian  wars.  In  1784  she  emigrated  to  Kentucky, 
whither  her  husband  had  gone  to  lay  out  a  farm  and  build  a 
log-cabin.  "  She  traveled,"  says  her  biographer,  "  on  horse- 
back, carrying  her  eldest  child  behind  her,  and  her  little  boy, 
Allen,  eleven  months  old,  in  her  lap.  On  reaching  Clinch 
River  the  stream  was  found  swollen  by  recent  rains,  and  the 
swift  current  dashed  over  huge  rocks.  She  was  leading  the 
company  of  females,  and,  trusting  in  God  and  committing  all 
her  interests  to  him,  she  urged  her  steed  into  the  rapid  stream, 
and  reached  the  opposite  shore  in  safety,  amid  the  prayers 
and  shouts  of  those  who  watched  her  progress.    The  remainder 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUECH.  475 

of  the  company  crossed  by  a  ford  further  up  the  river."  Gen- 
eral Knox,  who  convoyed  the  train,  and  witnessed  the  feat, 
and  her  noble  conduct  throughout  the  journey,  applauded  her 
as  equaling  in  courage  and  presence  of  mind  "  the  women  of 
Sparta." 

For  fifteen  years  she  lived,  surrounded  by  Indian  perils, 
about  ten  miles  from  a  u  station,"  near  the  site  of  Lexington, 
educating  her  children  and  servants  with  the  ability  and  dig- 
nity of  a  true  Christian  matron.  She  possessed  a  remarkably 
vigorous  mind,  was  familiar,  there  in  the  backwoods,  with  the 
great  English  poets,  and  had  the  four  Gospels  entirely  in  her 
memory,  acquired  when  she  was  but  fifteen  years  old.  Some 
of  the  writings  of  Fletcher  fell  into  her  hands,  and  she  became 
a  Methodist  in  1790.  Her  husband  determined  to  push  on 
further  with  the  movement  of  emigration,  and  purchased  lands 
in  Ohio,  but  died  before  the  family  started  for  their  new  home. 
The  noble  widow  led  her  eight  children  thither,  and  there,  in 
Highland  County,  welcomed  Quinn,  and  formed  one  of  the 
first  Sunday-schools  in  the  State.  Every  interest  of  the 
Church,  especially  its  missions  to  the  aborigines,  had  her 
hearty  co-operation  through  the  remainder  of  her  long  life. 
She  saw  all  the  Northwestern  Territory  overspread  by  her 
denomination,  her  great  State  organized,  the  infant  son,  whom 
she  had  carried  on  her  steed  to  the  West,  its  chief  magistrate, 
and  died  under  his  roof  in  1839,  aged  more  than  eighty-four 
years,  having  been  a  devoted  Methodist  nearly  fifty  years. 
She  was  not  only  one  of  the  best,  but  one  of  the  ablest  women 
who  have  adorned  her  Church  or  country,  a  befitting  associate 
of  Mary  Tiffin,  Mrs.  General  Eussell,  and  similar  "elect 
ladies  "  of  the  Church  in  the  wilderness. 

Burke,  Shinn,  Oglesby,  Sale,  Lakin,  Parker,  William 
Young,  Lotspeich,  Lasley,  Manley,  Cummins,  and  many  other 
energetic  men  wrere  colaborers  of  Quinn  in  these  regions 
throughout  these  years.  From  Ohio  the  systematic  work  of 
the  Church  extended  westward  over  Indiana,  Illinois,  and 
Missouri.  Indiana  territory  was  constituted  in  1800  ;  in  1805 
it  was  divided  by  the  organization  of  Michigan  territory,  and 
in  1809  that  of  Illinois  was  detached  from  it.     In  1802  the 


476  HISTORY    OF    THE 

first  Indiana  Methodist  Society  was  formed  at  Gassaway,  in 
"  Clark's  Grant,"  Nathan  Robertson  being  the  first  Methodist 
of  the  territory.  'Two  years  later  there  was  an  Illinois  mission. 
"Whitewater  Circuit  was  formed  in  1807,  with  Thomas  Hel- 
lams  for  its  preacher,  and  sixty-seven  members ;  Silver  Creek 
in  1808,  and  Yincennes  in  1810.  In  1815  there  were,  in  the 
entire  territory,  Whitewater,  Silver  Creek,  Illinois,  Little 
Wabash,  Yincennes,  and  Lawrenceburgh  Circuits,  having 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  members  and  seven  preachers. 
The  latter  were  John  Strange,  W.  M.  Hunt,  Shadrach  Ruark, 
John  Scripps,  John  Shrader,  James  Poland,  and  W.  C.  Har- 
besson.  By  the  end  of  our  present  period  there  were  in  the 
same  territory  twenty-six  preachers  and  eight  thousand  mem- 
bers. By  the  end  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  century  they  had 
so  increased  that  there  were  in  Michigan  four,  in  Illinois 
eighteen,  and  in  Indiana  twenty-eight  itinerants,  making  forty 
preachers  and  fourteen  thousand  members.  Seven  years  later 
the  increase  was,  in  Michigan,  eight  preachers  and  one  thou- 
sand six  hundred  members ;  in  Illinois,  forty-four  preachers, 
ten  thousand  members ;  and  in  Indiana,  sixty  preachers  and 
twenty  thousand  members.  In  1832  was  formed  the  Indiana 
Conference.  For  twelve  years  the  entire  State  was  in  one 
Conference,  which  was  first  divided  in  1844,  when  it  reported 
sixty-six  thousand  members,  two  hundred  traveling  preachers, 
and  four  hundred  and  eighty-eight  local  preachers.  In  our 
day  (1866)  it  has  four  Conferences,  four  hundred  traveling 
preachers,  seven  hundred  local  preachers,  and  ninety  thousand 
members.  "  This  State,  though  it  bears  a  name  signifying 
' domain  of  the  Indian,'  has  for  its  more  than  one  million 
three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  inhabitants,  two  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  thirty-three  places  of  worship,  one  thousand 
two  hundred  and  fifty-six  of  which  are  furnished  by  the  Meth- 
odists, with  accommodations  for  more  than  one  million,  and 
valued  at  nearly  four  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
It  has  six  thousand  five  hundred  free  schools,  one  thousand 
one  hundred  and  twenty-three  Sabbath-schools,  more  than  one 
hundred  higher  schools  or  academies  and  colleges,  of  which 
the  Methodists  furnish  one  third." 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL  .CHURCH.  477 

The  extension  of  Methodism  northwestward,  into  the  Mich- 
igan Territory,  was  slow.  The  fruits  of  the  labors  of  Bangs, 
Case,  and  Mitchell  lingered  in  Detroit  till  Joseph  Hickox 
was  appointed  to  the  Circuit  in  1815  ;  the  recent  war  had  de- 
moralized the  whole  country,  and  Hickox  could  discover  only 
seven  Methodists  in  Detroit.  A  Society,  which  had  been 
organized  at  Monroe  in  1811,  he  found  entirely  broken  up, 
and  he  was  the  only  Protestant  preacher  in  the  territory  for 
at  least  one  year.  There  was  not  yet  a  single  Protestant 
chapel  in  it.  But,  after  the  war,  emigration,  and,  with  it, 
Methodism,  began  to  pour  into  the  country.  "  As  the  popula- 
tion extended,  our  ministers,"  says  a  local  authority,  "  followed 
them,  wading  through  the  swamps  and  marshes,  and  striking 
the  Indian  trails,  so  that  the  people  have  never  been  left  for 
any  considerable  time  without  the  Gospel.  The  first  preach- 
ers were  sent  from  the  New  York  Conference,  the  next  from 
the  Genesee,  the  third  from  the  Ohio.  In  1836  the  Michigan 
Conference  was  created — it  included  a  part  of  Ohio  ;  but  in 
1840  the  Ohio  portion  was  separated,  leaving  Michigan  alone. 
At  this  time  there  were  only  seventy-eight  ministers  and 
preachers,  and  eleven  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-three 
members.  Though  this  seems  small,  we  must  consider  that 
the  population  was  sparse.  Now  we  have  about  three  hun- 
dred ministers,  and  thirty-two  thousand  members.  The  first 
Protestant  church  erected  in  Michigan  was  built  near  Detroit 
in  1818.  It  was  made  of  logs,  and  was  considered  a  fine 
affair ;  but  now  we  find  substantial  churches  dotting  all  the 
country." 

We  have  seen  the  extension  of  the  itinerant  ministry  to  the 
Illinois  Territory,  by  Benjamin  Young,  in  1804.  He  had  been 
preceded,  however,  by  less  known  laborers.  The  "  real  pio- 
neer of  the  Church,"  says  our  best  living  Illinois  authority, 
"was  Capt.  Joseph  Ogle,  who  went  thither  in  1785.  The 
first  Methodist  preacher  was  Joseph  Lillard,  who,  in  1793, 
formed  a  class  in  St.  Clair  County,  and  appointed  Captain 
Ogle  leader.  The  next  Methodist  preacher  was  John  Clarke, 
who  originally  traveled  in  South  Carolina  from  1791  to  1796, 
when  he  withdrew  on  account  of  slavery.     He  was  the  first 


478  HISTORY   OF   THE 

man  that  preached  the  Gospel  west  of  the  Mississippi,  in 
1798.  Hosea  Riggs  was  the  first  Methodist  preacher  that  set- 
tled in  Illinois,  and  he  revived  and  reorganized  the  class  at 
Captain  Ogle's,  formed  by  Lillard,  which  had  dropped  its  reg- 
ular meetings.  From  1798  there  seems  to  have  been  no  regu- 
lar preacher  in  Illinois  till  1804 ;  then  Benjamin  Young  was 
sent  as  a  missionary.  In  the  fall  of  1805  he  returned  sixty- 
seven  members,  and  Joseph  Oglesby  was  appointed  to  succeed 
him  on  the  Illinois  Circuit." 

A  notable  character,  Jesse  Walker,  appeared  on  the  scene 
in  1806,  a  man  whose  name  is  identified  for  years  with  the 
westward  progress  of  Methodism.  One  of  his  contemporaries 
says  :  "  He  was  a  character  perfectly  unique  ;  he  had  no  dupli- 
cate. He  was  to  the  Church  what  Daniel  Boone  was  to  the 
early  settler,  always  first,  always  ahead  of  everybody  else, 
preceding  all  others  long  enough  to  be  the  pilot  of  the  new- 
comers. The  Minutes,  in  his  case,  are  no  guide,  from  the  fact 
that  he  was  sent  by  the  bishops  and  presiding  elders  in  every 
direction  where  new  work  was  to  be  cut  out.  His  natural 
vigor  was  almost  superhuman.  He  did  not  seem  to  require 
food  and  rest  as  other  men ;  no  day's  journey  was  long  enough 
to  tire  him  ;  no  fare  too  poor  for  him  to  live  on ;  to  him,  in 
traveling,  roads  and  paths  were  useless  things — he  '  blazed  ' 
out  his  own  course  ;  no  way  was  too  bad  for  him — if  his  horse 
could  not  carry  him  he  led  him,  and  when  his  horse  could  not 
follow,  he  would  leave  him,  and  take  it  on  foot ;  and  if  night 
and  a  cabin  did  not  come  together,  he  would  pass  the  night 
alone  in  the  wilderness,  which  with  him  was  no  uncommon 
occurrence.  Every  time  you  could  hear  from  him  he  was  still 
further  on."  His  appointment  to  Illinois  in  1806  was  a  mis- 
sion to  the  whole  territory.  The  region  between  Kentucky 
and  the  interior  of  this  new  field  was  yet  a  wilderness,  and 
difficult  to  travel.  M'Kendree,  the  presiding  elder,  set  out, 
therefore,  with  his  pioneer  itinerant,  to  assist  him  on  the  way. 
They  journeyed  on  horseback,  sleeping  in  the  woods  on  their 
saddle  blankets,  and  cooking  their  meals  under  trees.  Walker, 
at  last  left  alone  in  the  territory,  moved  over  it  courageously, 
till  the  winter  compelled  him  to  suspend  his  circuit  plan,  and 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  4?9 

commence  operating  from  house  to  house,  or  rather  from  cabin 
to  cabin,  "passing  none  without  calling  and  delivering  the 
Gospel  message.  He  was  guided  by  the  indications  of  Provi- 
dence, and  took  shelter  for  the  night  wherever  he  could  obtain 
it,  so  as  to  resume  his  labor  early  the  next  day,  and  he  contin- 
ued this  course  of  toil  till  about  the  close  of  the  winter.  The 
result  was  a  general  revival  with  the  opening  spring,  when  the 
people  were  able  to  reassemble,  and  he  to  resume  his  regular 
plan.  As  the  result  of  his  first  year's  experiment  in  Illinois, 
two  hundred  and  eighteen  Church  members  were  reported  in 
the  printed  Minutes. 

His  next  field  was  Missouri,  and  he  continued  to  travel 
thenceforward,  alternately  in  each  territory,  down  to  1812, 
when,  as  presiding  elder,  he  took  command  of  all  the  Meth- 
odist interests  of  both ;  both  appertaining  to  the  Tennessee 
Conference.  He  had  charge  of  Districts  in  one  or  the  other 
till  1819,  when  he  was  appointed  Conference  missionary,  that 
he  might  range  about  "  breaking  up  new  ground,"  a  work  for 
which  he  was  singularly  fitted,  and  in  which  he  persisted  for 
years.  Before  Walker's  arrival,  however,  Methodism  had 
penetrated  Missouri,  by  the  occasional  preaching  of  Joseph 
Oglesby.  The  first  intimation  that  the  Minutes  give  of  an 
appointment  to  Missouri  is  in  1806,  when  Walker  entered 
Illinois.  John  Travis,  then  a  youth,  recently  admitted  to  the 
"Western  Conference,  was  dispatched  immediately  to  the  Mis- 
souri wilds,  when  the  whole  country  had  but  about  sixteen 
thousand  inhabitants.  The  young  pioneer  returned  a  hundred 
white  and  six  African  members  at  the  next  Conference,  at 
which  two  Missouri  Circuits  were  recorded,  "  Maramack  and 
Missouri,"  and  Walker  and  Edmund  Wilcox  sent  to  them. 
Slow  but  steady  progress  was  made  till  the  field  was  mature 
enough  to  be  constituted  a  Conference  in  1816,  without  a 
boundary  on  the  West,  "  but  including  the,  last  Methodist 
cabin  toward  the  setting  sun,"  and  taking  in  all  Missouri  and 
Illinois  and  the  western  part  of  Indiana.  Walker  was  a  great 
sufferer  as  well  as  a  great  laborer  in  these  fields.  "  I  think  it 
was  in  the  fall  of  1819,"  says  Peter  Cartwright,  "  that  our 
beloved  old  Brother  Walker,  who  had  traveled  all  his  life,  or 


480  HISTORY   OF    THE 

nearly  so,  came  over  to  our  Tennessee  Conference,  which  sat  in 
Nashville,  to  see  us ;  but  O  how  weather-beaten  and  war- 
worn was  he !  almost,  if  not  altogether,  without  decent  apparel 
to  appear  among  us.  We  soon  made  a  collection,  and  had 
him  a  decent  suit  of  clothes  to  put  on ;  and  never  shall  I  for- 
get the  blushing  modesty  and  thankfulness  with  which  he 
accepted  that  suit,  and  never  did  I  and  others  have  a  stronger 
verification  of  our  Lord's  words,  i  That  it  is  more  blessed  to 
give  than  to  receive.'  " 

Though  Jesse  Walker  was  not  the  first  Methodist  itinerant 
in  Missouri,  he  ranks  as  the  principal  founder  of  the  denom- 
ination there.  ~No  obstruction  could  withstand  his  assaults. 
As  pioneer,  circuit  preacher,  presiding  elder,  he  drove  all 
opposition  before  him,  and  inspirited  his  colaborers  with 
his  own  energy,  so  that  Methodism  effectively  superseded 
the  original  Roman  Catholic  predominance  in  that  country. 
Having  effectually  broken  the  way  open  for  it  in  Missouri 
during  sixteen  years,  Walker,  eager  for  pioneer  adventures, 
went,  in  1823,  to  the  Indian  tribes  up  the  Mississippi,  where 
he  labored  till  1830,  when  the  hero  of  so  many  fields  was 
esteemed  the  man  for  other  new  work,  and  was  appointed  to 
the  extreme  North,  to  Chicago  Mission,  "  where  he  succeeded," 
says  Peter  Cartwright,  "in  planting  Methodism  in  that  then 
infant  city.  In  1831  he  was  sent  to  the  Des  Plaines  Mission, 
and  organized  many  small  Societies  in  that  young  and  rising 
country."  In  1832  there  was  a  Chicago  District  formed,  mostly 
of  missionary  ground.  Walker  was  superintendent  of  this 
District,  and  missionary  to  Chicago  town,  and  in  1833  was 
continued  in  the  City  Missionary  Station.  This  year  closed 
his  active  itinerant  life.  "  He  had,"  says  Cartwright,  "  done 
effective  service  as  a  traveling  preacher  for  more  than  thirty 
years,  and  had  lived  poor,  and  suffered  much ;  had  won  thou- 
sands of  souls  qver  to  Christ,  and  firmly  planted  Methodism 
for  thousands  of  miles  on  our  frontier  border.  We  have  fought 
side  by  side  for  many  years,  we  have  suffered  hunger  and  want 
together,  we  have  often  wept  and  prayed  and  preached  to- 
gether ;  I  hope  we  shall  sing  and  shout  together  in  heaven." 
He  died,  "in  confident  hope  of  a  blessed  immortality,"  in 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    OHUEOH.  481 

1835.  He  was  five  feet  seven  inches  high,  of  slender  but 
vigorous  frame,  sallow  complexion,  light  hair,  prominent 
cheeks,  small  blue  eyes,  a  generous  and  cheerful  expression, 
and  dressed  always  in  drab-colored  clothes,  of  the  plainest 
Quaker  fashion,  with  a  light-colored  beaver  hat,  "  nearly  as 
large  as  a  lady's  parasol."  He  had  extraordinary  aptness  to 
win  the  confidence  and  sympathy  of  "  backwoodsmen  ; "  his 
friendships  were  most  hearty,  his  courage  equal  to  any  test, 
his  piety  thorough,  his  talents  as  a  preacher  moderate.  His 
great  talent  was  his  great  character. 

Methodism  became  mighty  in  Missouri  Conference,  number- 
ing  nearly  twenty-four  thousand  members  before  the  southern 
secession  of  18M ;  but  that  event  rent  the  Church  to  pieces ; 
the  war  of  the  rebellion  still  further  devastated  the  great  field. 
Peace  has  restored  the  denomination,  and  the  Missouri  Con- 
ference still  exists,  with  reorganized  plans  of  usefulness. 

During  these  years  men  of  genuine  greatness  of  character 
and  talents  were  continually  rising  up  in  the  western  itiner- 
ancy. Samuel  Parker  was  called  the  Cicero  of  the  western 
ministry.  His  natural  eloquence  was  remarkable.  The  people 
thronged  from  great  distances  to  hear  him  ;  his  word  was  irre- 
sistible, and  "  wherever  he  went,"  says  one  of  his  contemporaries, 
"  wondering  and  weeping  audiences  crowded  about  him."  He 
possessed  an  exceedingly  musical  voice,  a  clear,  keen  mind,  an 
imagination  which,  though  never  extravagant,  afforded  frequent 
and  brilliant  illustrations  of  his  subject,  while  his  ardent  piety 
imparted  wonderful  tenderness  and  power  to  his  appeals. 
Withal,  his  personal  appearance  was  striking  before  he  became 
attenuated  with  disease.  He  was  nearly  six  feet  high,  had  a 
remarkably  intellectual  countenance,  with  a  full  forehead,  and 
a  black,  piercing  eye.  In  1809  he  became  presiding  elder  on 
a  district  which  included  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Missouri.  He 
continued  north  and  west  of  the  Ohio  with  increasing  influence 
and  success  till  1815,  when  he  was  made  presiding  elder  in 
Kentucky,  where  his  great  eloquence  commanded  general 
interest.  In  1819  he  was  appointed  to  lead  the  itinerants 
who  were  extending  the  Church  in  the  far  southwest,  on  the 
memorable  Mississippi  District.      They  needed  such  a  man  ; 

31 


482  HISTORY   OF   THE 

but  his  health  was  broken,  and  it  seemed  but  an  appointment 
to  martyrdom.  He  was  ready  for  it,  nevertheless,  and  when 
it  was  announced,  at  the  close  of  the  Conference,  in  Cincin- 
nati, "  it  seemed,"  says  a  spectator,  "  that  a  wave  of  sympathy 
rolled  over  the  whole  assembly."  He  sank  down  and  died  on 
the  District  in  1819.  Winans,  whom  he  had  called  out  to 
preach,  in  Ohio,  attended  him  in  death,  and  followed  him  to 
his  grave,  in  Washington,  Miss.  "  He  died,"  says  Winans, 
"  not  only  peacefully,  but  triumphantly." 

James  Axley  has  left  traditions  of  his  character  and  work 
in  the  Church  from  Indiana  to  Louisiana.  A  fellow-laborer 
(himself  one  of  the  most  genuine  products  of  nature  and  the 
West)  has  said  that  Axley  "  was  the  most  perfect  child  of 
nature  I  ever  knew."  He  was  tossed  about,  with  singular 
rapidity,  in  his  appointments,  from  Tennessee  to  Ohio,  from 
Ohio  to  the  Holston  Mountains,  from  Holston  to  Opelousas, 
in  Louisiana,  back  again  to  Holston,  then  to  the  Wabash  Dis- 
trict, in  Indiana,  back  again  to  the  Holston  District  for  four 
years,  thence  to  Green  River  District  in  Kentucky,  and  finally 
to  French  Broad  District,  among  the  Alleghanies  of  North 
Carolina.  In  1822  he  located,  near  Madisonville,  Tenn.,  where 
he  died  in  1838."  Through  this  vast  range  of  his  ministerial 
travels  he  was  one  of  the  most  energetic,  most  popular,  and 
most  useful  preachers  of  the  times.  His  pulpit  talents 
were  not  above  mediocrity,  his  manners  utterly  unpolished; 
but  he  combined  with  profound  piety  and  much  tender  sensi- 
bility the  shrewdest  sense,  an  astonishing  aptness  of  speech, 
and  an  exhaustless  humor.  The  latter,  however,  was  usually 
so  well  directed  that  it  seemed  wisdom  itself,  arrayed  in 
smiles.  Few,  if  any,  of  his  contemporaries  drew  larger 
audiences,  for  Axley  was  irresistible  to  the  western  people. 
He  joined  the  Conference  at  the  same  time  with  Parker  and 
Cartwright.  To  the  latter  he  was  of  course  a  congenial  mind. 
"  We  were  always,"  says  Cartwright,  "  bosom  friends  till  he 
closed  his  earthly  pilgrimage."  Cartwright  records  "  an  illus- 
tration of  Axley's  extraordinary  faith,"  which  is  an  equal 
illustration  of  the  character  of  the  times  and  the  country. 
They  were  at  a  camp-meeting  in  Tennessee,  Axley  endeavor- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUEOH.  483 

ing  to  sustain  order  among  a  crew  of '  rowdies '  while  Cartwright 
was  preaching.  "  They  actually  threatened  to  lay  the  cowhide 
over  him,"  says  the  latter.  "He  replied  with  great  calmness 
and  firmness  that  that  was  not  the  place  for  an  encounter, 
and  that,  if  they  were  really  bent  on  fighting,  they  must  retire 
outside  the  encampment.  Immediately  he  found  himself  in 
the  midst  of  a  crowd  there.  Axley  remarked  that  he  could 
not  possibly  go  into  the  fight  until  he  had  prayed,  and  instantly 
knelt  down.  He  poured  forth  his  heart  in  a  strain  of  uncom- 
mon fervor ;  the  base  fellows  themselves  were  actually  dis- 
armed, and  such  an  impression  of  reverence  and  solemnity 
came  over  them  that  they  at  once  abandoned  their  impious 
design,  and  behaved  themselves  with  perfect  decorum.  On 
the  Monday  following  he  preached  a  sermon,  under  which 
several  of  them  were  melted  into  tears.  When  the  awakened 
came  forward  for  the  prayers  of  the  Church  there  were  found 
among  them  a  number  of  these  persons,  and,  before  the  meet- 
ing closed,  some  of  them  professed  to  have  become  new 
creatures  in  Christ  Jesus." 

Peter  Cartwright  grew  up  in  Kentucky  thoroughly  seasoned 
with  western  hardihood,  but  saved  from  many  of  the  vices 
prevalent  around  him.  In  his  ninth  year  he*  heard  the  itiner- 
ant, Jacob  Lurton,  preach  in  his  father's  cabin,  and  describes 
him  as  "  a  real  son  of  thunder."  "  My  mother,"  he  adds, 
"  shouted  aloud  for  joy."  A  small  class  was  formed  at  about 
four  miles  distance,  to  which  his  good  mother  walked  every 
week.  At  last  they  built  a  little  church,  and  called  it  "  Eben- 
ezer."  In  his  sixteenth  year,  after  dancing  at  a  wedding,  he 
went  home  with  an  awakened  conscience.  Unable  to  sleep,  he 
spent  much  of  the  night  on  his  knees  with  his  praying  mother, 
and,  sometime  afterward,  was  converted  at  a  camp-meeting. 
In  his  nineteenth  year,  urged  by  his  mother,  but  opposed 
by  his  father,  he  went  forth  as  a  circuit  preacher  "  under  the 
presiding  elder."  At  the  Conference  of  1804,  held  at  Mount 
Gerizim,  Ky.,  he  was  received  on  probation.  Of  all  the  itiner- 
ants of  that  session  he  is  the  only  survivor.  The  bare  enumer- 
ation of  his  subsequent  "  appointments  "  would  cover  pages. 
In  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  in  almost  every  portion  of  the  North- 


484  HISTOEY    OF   THE 

western  Territory,  lie  fought  courageously  the  battles  of  his 
Church  ;  not  always  with  the  voice,  but  sometimes,  like  Finley 
and  others,  he  had  to  use  his  stout  fist  against  the  onset  of 
semi-barbarous  mobs.  A  frontier  man,  he  knew  the  perils 
and  necessities  of  frontier  life ;  and  when  his  appeals  to  the 
conscience  of  his  sometimes  half  savage  hearers  could  not  pre- 
vail, and  especially  when  the  decorum  of  public  worship,  or 
the  safety  of  his  congregations  were  periled,  he  could  show 
himself  physically  formidable,  and  make  the  mob  recoil.  We 
need  to  read  the  record  of  such  a  life  as  his  with  somewhat  of 
the  moral  license  of  the  early  frontier  spirit.  "  My  voice,"  he 
says,  "  at  that  day  was  strong  and  clear,  and  I  could  sing,  ex- 
hort, pray,  and  preach  almost  all  the  time,  day  and  night." 
Some  of  his  meetings  lasted  all  night.  His  circuits  were  like 
lines  of  battle,  continually  in  excitement,  if  not  commotion. 
Some  of  his  quarterly  meetings  were  not  only  scenes  of  spirit- 
ual conflict  and  victory,  but  of  "  hand-to-hand  fights  "  with  the 
rabble.  One  of  them,  on  Scioto  Circuit,  in  1805,  was  held  in 
the  woods.  The  mob,  led  on  by  two  champions,  who  bore 
"  ldaded  whips,"  invaded  it.  Cartwright  called  from  the  stand 
upon  two  magistrates  in  the  assembly  to  arrest  the  leaders,  but 
they  replied  that'  it  was  impossible.  He  came  forward  him- 
self, offering  to  do  it  for  them,  but  the  assailants  struck  at  him. 
The  greatest  tumult  ensued ;  the  congregation  was  in  con- 
fusion ;  the  whole  mob  pressed  upon  him  and  his  friends.  He 
seized  one  after  another  of  the  principal  rioters,  and  threw 
them  to  the  earth,  including  a  drunken  magistrate  who  had 
taken  sides  with  them.  "Just  at  this  moment,"  he  writes, 
"  the  ringleader  of  the  mob  and  I  met.  He  made  three  passes 
at  me,  intending  to  knock  me  down.  The  last-  time  he  struck 
at  me,  by  the  force  of  his  own  effort  he  threw  the  side  of  his 
face  toward  me.  It  seemed  at  that  moment  I  had  not  power 
to  resist  temptation,  and  I  struck  him  a  blow  in  the  burr  of  his 
ear,  which  felled  him  to  the  earth.  Our  friends  now  rushed  by 
hundreds  on  the  mob,  knocking  them  down  in  every  direction. 
In  a  few  minutes  the  place  became  too  strait  for  them,  and 
they  wheeled  and  fled ;  but  we  secured  about  thirty  prisoners, 
marched  them  off  to  a  vacant  tent,  and  put  them  under  guard  till 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  485 

Monday  morning,  when  they  were  tried,  and  every  man  was 
fined  to  the  utmost  limits  of  the  law.  They  fined  my  old 
drunken  magistrate  twenty  dollars,  returned  him  to  court, 
and  he  was  cashiered  of  his  office.  On  Sunday,  when  we  had 
vanquished  the  mob,  the  whole  encampment  was  filled  with 
mourning;  and,  although  there  was  no  attempt  to  resume 
preaching  till  evening,  yet,  such  was  our  confused  state,  there 
was  not  then  a  single  preacher  on  the  ground  willing  to  preach? 
from  the  presiding  elder,  John  Sale,  down.  Seeing  we  had 
fallen  on  evil  times,  my  spirit  was  stirred  within  me.  I  said 
to  the  elder,  '  I  feel  a  clear  conscience,  for  under  the  necessity 
of  the  circumstances  we  have  done  right,  and  now  I  ask  you  to 
let  me  preach.'  '  Do,'  said  the  elder,  <  for  there  is  no  other 
man  on  the  ground  can  do  it.'  The  encampment  was  lighted 
up,  the  trumpet  blown,  I  rose  in  the  stand,  and  required  every 
soul  to  leave  the  tents  and  come  into  the  congregation.  There 
was  a  general  rush  to  the  stand.  I  requested  the  brethren,  if 
ever  they  prayed  in  all  their'  lives,  to  pray  now.  My  voice 
was  strong  and  clear,  and  my  preaching  was  more  of  an  ex- 
hortation and  encouragement  than  anything  else.  My  text 
was,  '  The  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail.'  In  about  thirty 
minutes  the  power  of  God  fell  on  the  congregation  in  such  a 
manner  as  is  seldom  seen.  The  people  fell  in  every  direction, 
right  and  left,  front  and  rear.  It  was  supposed  that  not  less 
than  three  hundred  fell  like  dead  men  in  battle,  and  there  was 
no  need  of  calling  mourners,  for  they  were  strewed  all  over 
the  camp-ground.  Our  meeting  lasted  all  night,  and  Monday 
and  Monday  night;  and  when  we  closed  on  Tuesday  there 
were  two  hundred  who  had  professed  religion,  and  about  that 
number  joined  the  Church.  Brother  Axley  and  myself  pulled 
together  like  true  yoke-fellows.  We  were  both  raised  in  the 
backwoods,  and  well  understood  frontier  life." 

Similar  scenes  were  hardly  rare  on  the  western  frontier. 
Irreconcilable  as  they  may  be  to  our  sense  of  religious 
decorum,  they  are  essential  illustrations  of  the  times.  History 
cannot  evade  them,  even  if  we  should  not  feel  a  lurking 
sympathy  with  the  rude  courage  which  they  too  often  provoked 
beyond  all  self-control. 


486  HISTORY   OF    THE 

For  nearly  seventy  years  Peter  Cartwright  has  been  a 
Methodist,  for  nearly  sixty-five  an  itinerant  preacher,  for 
about  fifty  a  presiding  elder;  twelve  times  he  has  shared 
in  the  General  Conferences  of  his  Church.  In  his  long 
ministerial  life  he  has  not  lost  six  months  from  his  regular 
work  for  any  cause  whatever.  "For  twenty  years  of  my 
ministry,"  he  writes,  "  I  often  preached  twice  a  day,  and 
sometimes  three  times.  We  seldom  ever  had  in  those  days 
more  than  one  rest-day  in  a  week,  so  that  I  feel  very  safe  in 
saying  that  I  preached  four  hundred  times  a  year.  I  was  con- 
verted on  a  camp-ground,  and  for  many  years  of  my  early 
ministry,  after  I  was  appointed  presiding  elder,  lived  in  the 
tented  grove  from  two  to  three  months  in  the  year.  I  have 
lived  to  see  this  vast  western  wilderness  rise  and  improve, 
and  become  wealthy  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  the 
world ;  I  have  outlived  every  member  of  my  father's  family ; 
I  have  outlived  every  member  of  the  class  I  joined  in  1800 ; 
I  have  outlived  every  member  of  the  Western  Conference  in 
1804;  I  have  outlived  nearly  every  member  of  the  first 
General  Conference  that  I  was  elected  to,  in  Baltimore,  in 
1816 ;  I  have  outlived  all  my  early  bishops  ;  I  have  outlived 
every  presiding  elder  that  I  ever  had  when  on  circuits ;  and  I 
have  outlived  hundreds  and  thousands  of  my  contemporary 
ministers  and  members,  as  well  as  juniors,  and  still  linger  on 
these  mortal  shores.  Though  all  these  have  died  they  shall  live 
again,  and,  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  shall  live  with  them  in 
heaven  forever."  He  has  received  into  the  Church  some 
twelve  thousand  members,  and  led  into  the  itinerancy  scores, 
if  not  hundreds,  of  preachers.  Rough  and  hardy  as  the  oak ; 
overflowing  with  geniality  and  humor ;  a  tireless  worker  and 
traveler ;  a  sagacious  counselor,  giving  often  in  the  strangest 
disguises  of  wit  and  humor  the  shrewdest  suggestions  of 
wisdom;  an  unfailing  friend,  an  incomparable  companion,  a 
faithful  patriot,  and  an  earnest  Methodist,  Peter  Cartwright 
has  been,  for  nearly  three  generations,  one  of  the  most 
noted,  most  interesting,  most  unique  men  of  the  West  and  of 
Methodism. 

David  Young's  labors,  especially  in  Ohio,  were  long  and 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  487 

successful.  He  was  born  in  Bedford  County,  Ya. ;  was  well 
trained  at  home,  where  he  had  the  then  rare  advantage  of  a 
good  library,  and  by  becoming  a  studious  youth,  prepared  an 
intelligent  and  effective  manhood.  From  his  seventh  year  he 
was  seldom  without  religious  reflection.  In  1803  he  emigrated 
to  Tennessee,  where  he  taught  a  grammar  school ;  and  in  the 
same  year  was  converted,  and  became  a  Methodist.  The 
next  year  he  was  "exhorting,"  and  in  1805  joined  the  Con- 
ference. His  appointments  were  for  some  time  in  Tennessee ; 
but  in  1811  he  was  sent  to  Ohio,  where  he  labored,  with  com- 
manding influence,  down  to  1849,  when  he  was  placed  on  the 
"  superannuated  list."  He  suffered  from  disease  most  of  his 
life,  the  effect  of  his  early  itinerant  exposures.  His  self- 
education,  improving  good  natural  powers,  secured  him  "  the 
first  rank  among  his  brother  ministers."  *  He  was  always 
master  of  his  subject.  "  His  logical  method,  associated  with 
fervency  of  spirit,  enchained  his  auditory.  Sometimes  his 
pathos  was  overwhelming,  for  he  was  often  a  weeping  prophet. 
Fond  of  reading,  he  had  in  store  a  large  amount  of  general 
literature,  wThich  gave  great  interest  to  his  preaching.  His 
voice  was  pleasant,  though  sometimes  shrill  and  penetrating ; 
his  gesticulation  graceful,  and  his  whole  manner  peculiarly 
solemn  and  impressive."  He  led  into  the  communion  and 
ministry  of  the  Church  its  present  senior  bishop,  who  de- 
scribes him  as  "  tall  and  slender,  but  straight  and  symmetrical. 
His  step  was  elastic.  He  wore  the  straight-breasted  coat,  and 
the  broad-brimmed  hat  usual  among  early  Methodist  preachers. 
His  yellow  hair,  all  combed  back,  hung  in  great  profusion 
about  his  neck  and  shoulders,  giving  him  an  imposing  appear- 
ance. His  blue  eyes  were  prominent,  and  exceedingly  pen- 
etrating. I  heard  a  Yirginia  lawyer  say  that  he  could  with- 
stand the  direct  contact  of  any  preacher's  eye  in  the  pulpit  he 
ever  saw,  except  David  Young's;  but  his  always  made  him 
quail.  In  manners  he  was  a  finished  gentleman  of  the  Yirginia 
school.  He  abounded  in  incident,  and  had  a  rare  talent  at 
narration,  both  in  and  out  of  the  pulpit.  Yet,  as  a  minister, 
he  was  grave  and  dignified.     No  man  conducted   a  public 

*  Eev.  Dr.  Trimble,  in  Sprague,  p.  431. 


488  HISTORY    OF    THE 

religious  service  more  solemnly  or  impressively  than  lie  did, 
especially  in  reading  the  Holy  Scriptures  or  in  prayer.  His 
deep  religious  emotion  was  always  apparent  in  his  prayers  and 
his  sermons.  On  special  occasions,  while  applying  the  mo- 
mentous truths  of  the  Gospel,  he  stood  on  his  knees  in  the 
pulpit,  and,  with  many  tears,  entreated  sinners,  as  in  Christ's 
stead,  to  be  reconciled  to  God.  Among  the  most  celebrated 
Methodist  preachers  of  the  great  West  fifty  years  ago  were 
William  Beauchamp,  Samuel  Parker,  and  David  Young,  each 
of  whom  excelled  in  his  own  way.  Beauchamp  was  the  most 
instructive,  Parker  the  most  practical  and  persuasive,  and 
Young  the  most  overpowering.  Under  the  preaching  of  Beau- 
champ light  seemed,  to  break  on  the  most  bewildered  under- 
standing; under  that  of  Parker,  multitudes  of  people  melted 
like  snow  before  an  April  sun ;  while,  under  the  ministry  of 
Young,  I  knew  whole  assemblies  electrified,  as  suddenly  and 
as  sensibly  as  if  coming  in  contact  with  a  galvanic  battery.  I 
have  myself,  under  some  of  his  powerful  appeals,  felt  the  cold 
tremors  passing  over  me,  and  the  hair  on  my  head  apparently 
standing  on  end.  On  camp-meeting  occasions,  where  the  sur- 
roundings were  unusually  exciting,  it  has  sometimes  happened 
that  vast  numbers  of  persons  have  simultaneously  sprung  from 
their  seats  and  rushed  up  as  near  to  the  pulpit  as  they  could, 
apparently  unconscious  of  having  changed  positions."  He 
died  at  Zanesville  in  1858.  His  descent  to  the  grave  was  like 
a  serene  going  down  of  the  sun.  "  I  am  calmly,"  he  said, 
"  though  through  great  physical  suffering,  nearing  my  better 
home." 

John  Collins  has  already  appeared  in  our  pages  as  founding 
the  Church  in  Cincinnati.  He  was  born  in  New  Jersey  in 
1769,  and  was  of  Quaker  parentage.  When  very  young  his 
attention  was  drawn  to  religious  subjects  by  hearing  a  hymn 
sung  as  he  passed  the  house  of  a  neighbor.  For  several  years 
he  struggled  against  his  convictions,  living  a  moral  life,  but 
attaining  no  rest  for  his  soul.  He  went  to  Charleston,  S.  C, 
in  order  to  escape  his  local  associations,  and,  if  possible, 
become  a  more  decided  Christian  away  from  the  observations 
of  his  acquaintances,  but  failed,  and,  returning  home,  was 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  489 

converted  in  1794.  He  soon  began  to  preach,  but  with  much 
self-distrust,  and  doubt  of  his  divine  call  to  the  ministry. 
Larner  Blackmail,  his  brother-in-law,  was  saved  by  his  first 
sermon,  in  New  Jersey,  and  Collins  now  hesitated  no  more, 
especially  as  he  further  ascertained  that  ten  or  twelve  of  his 
kindred  were  awakened  by  the  same  discourse.  His  word, 
even  his  casual  allusions  to  religion,  seemed  to  have  remark- 
able effect.  He  had  been  appointed  major  of  militia,  but  now 
resigned  the  office,  and  sold  his  uniform  to  his  successor,  saying 
to  him,  "My  friend,  when  you  put  these  on,  think  of  the 
reason  why  I  laid  them  off."  The  brief  sentence  was  "  a  nail 
fastened  in  a  sure  place."  It  so  impressed  the  young  officer 
that  he  also  resigned  the  post  and  became  a  Methodist. 
Blackman  went  to  the  West,  where  he  became  a  champion 
of  the  itinerancy  from  Ohio  to  Louisiana.  Collins  followed 
him  in  1803,  and  located  his  family  in  Clermont  County, 
about  twenty-five  miles  west  of  Cincinnati.  He  thus  became 
a  colaborer  with  M'Cormick,  Gatch,  Tiffin,  and  Scott  in 
founding  the  denomination  in  the  Northwestern  Territory. 
His  appointments,  with  two  intervals  of"  location,"  were  all  in 
Ohio  for  thirty  years.  In  1837  his  infirmities  required  him  to 
retreat  into  a  "  superannuated  relation."  He  lived  yet  about 
seven  years  a  serene  Christian  life,  venerated  by  the  Church, 
beloved  for  his  memorable  services,  his  gentle  manners,  his 
catholicity,  his  pathetic  eloquence,  and  his  cheerful  piety.  He 
died  a  blessed  death,  in  1845.  "  Happy !  happy  !  happy  !  " 
were  his  last  words. 

The  fruits  of  his  ministry  abounded  in  all  parts  of  Ohio,  for 
his  superior  character  and  talents  gave  him  extraordinary  in- 
fluence among  all  classes  of  the  population.  Among  other 
eminent  citizens,  he  led  into  the  Church  John  M'Lean,  after- 
ward judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  nation,  and  the  biog- 
rapher of  the  itinerant.  Born  in  New  Jersey  in  1785,  M'Lean 
emigrated  successively  to  Western  Yirginia,  Kentucky,  and 
Ohio.  When  eighteen  years  old  he  began  his  legal  education, 
in  Cincinnati,  under  Arthur  St.  Clair.  He  gave  himself 
meanwhile  to  general  studies  in  almost  every  department  of 
science  and  literature.     He  became  skeptical  in  religion,  but, 


490  HISTORY   OF    THE 

after  his  admission  to  the  bar,  at  Lebanon,  Ohio,  in  1807,  he 
was  rescued  by  Collins.  One  of  the  judge's  biographers  says : 
"  Collins  had  an  appointment  to  preach  in  a  private  house  at 
Lebanon.  The  people  crowded  the  rooms,  and  many  had  to 
stand  about  the  doors.  Among  these  was  M'Lean,  who  stood 
where  he  could  hear  distinctly,  though,  as  he  thought,  unob- 
served by  the  speaker.  During  the  discourse,  however,  he  fell 
under  the  notice  of  Collins's  keen  eye,  and  his  prepossessing 
appearance  attracted,  at  the  first  glance,  the  notice  of  the 
preacher.  He  paused  a  moment,  and  mentally  offered  up  a 
short  prayer  for  the  conversion  of  the  young  man.  Resuming 
his  discourse,  the  first  word  he  uttered  was  '  eternity.'  That 
word  was  spoken  with  a  voice  so  solemn  and  impressive  that 
its  full  import  was  felt  by  M'Lean.  All  things  besides  appear- 
ed to  be  nothing  in  comparison  to  it."  He  soon  sought  an 
acquaintance  with  Collins,  and  became  a  regenerated  man. 
The  United  States  never  had  a  more  upright  or  more  honor- 
able citizen,  nor  American  Methodism  a  more  faithful  member 
than  Judge  M'Lean.  He  was  commanding  in  person,  tall, 
and  symmetrical  in  stature,  with  a  Platonic  brow,  thoughtful, 
tranquil  features,  and  the  most  modest  but  cordial  manners. 
He  was  an  able  statesman,  almost  infallible  in  his  cautious 
judgment,  a  thoroughly  devoted  Christian,  persevering  and 
punctual  in  the  minutest  duties  of  his  Church,  and  catholic  in 
his  regard  for  good  men  of  whatever  sect.  Lawyer,  member 
of  Congress,  supreme  judge  of  Ohio,  member  of  the  cabinets 
of  Monroe  and  Adams,  and  supreme  justice  of  the  Eepublic, 
he  passed  through  a  long  life  unblemished,  and,  above  all  his 
titles,  gloried  in  that  of  a  Christian.  M'Lean  says  of  Collins 
that  as  both  a  local  and  an  itinerant  minister  it  is  supposed 
that  the  Methodist  Church  in  the  West  has  not  had  a  more 
successful  preacher.  He  was  a  marked  man  in  his  person. 
He  always  wore  the  primitive  Quaker  dress.  His  forehead 
was  high,  his  eyes  small,  but  very  expressive,  and  over  all  his 
features  was  spread  an  air  of  refinement,  a  sort  of  intellectual 
and  benevolent  glow,  that  immediately  won  the  interest  of  the 
spectator.  And  his  spirit  and  manners  corresponded  with 
these  indications. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUPvCH.  491 

John  Strange,  a  Virginian,  was  one  of  the  most  successful 
evangelists  of  Methodism  in  Ohio,  whither  he  went  in  his 
twentieth  year.  He  commenced  preaching  in  1811  j  in  many 
parts  of  the  Northwestern  Territory  he  labored  powerfully, 
though  oppressed  with  chronic  disease,  down  to  1832,  when 
he  u  died  in  great  peace,"  at  Indianapolis,  while  at  the  head 
of  the  Indianapolis  District.  "  He  was,"  says  a  fellow-laborer, 
"  one  of  the  brightest  lights  of  the  American  pulpit,  in  the 
Yalley  of  the  Mississippi,  in  the  early  part  of  the  present  cen- 
tury. He  was  formed  by  nature  to  be  eloquent.  He  was  tall 
and  slender,  and  stood  remarkably  erect.  His  bearing  was 
that  of  one  born  to  command ;  and  yet,  combined  with  this, 
there  was  a  gentleness  and  softness  of  manner  that  never  failed 
to  win  the  hearts  of  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 
His  hair  was  raven  black,  and  his  eyes  blue,  and  generally 
mild ;  but,  when  he  was  animated,  they  became  remarkably 
brilliant  and  penetrating.  His  voice  was  unsurpassed,  as  far 
as  my  knowledge  extends,  for  its  compass,  and  the  sweetness, 
richness,  and  variety  of  its  tones.  There  were  times  when  his 
audience  were  held  spell-bound  by  his  eloquence,  and  some- 
times they  were  even  raised  en  masse  from  their  seats."  A 
bishop  of  the  Church  describes  his  appearance  in  the  pulpit  as 
"  peculiar,  almost  angelic.  I  should  pronounce  him,  unhesita- 
tingly, a  man  of  the  highest  style  of  genius."  Traditions  of 
his  eloquence  and  usefulness  are  rife  through  all  Ohio.  He 
was  an  accomplished  and  heroic  soldier  of  the  cross,  and  won 
innumerable  trophies.  Just  before  he  died,  his  last  words  to 
a  friend  were,  "  Serve  God  and  fight  the  devil. " 

Superior  even  to  Strange,  as  a  preacher,  was  Russell  Bige- 
low,  a  man  of  inferior  presence,  but  of  astonishing  eloquence, 
of  which  the  elder  Methodists  of  Kentucky,  Indiana,  and  Ohio 
never  tire  of  speaking,  though  they  can  only  describe  it  as 
"  indescribable."  President  Thomson,  (afterward  bishop,) 
when  a  young  student,  was  attracted  by  his  fame  to  hear  him 
at  a  camp-meeting,  and  says :  "  He  was  below  the  middle 
stature,  and  clad  in  coarse,  ill-made  garments.  His  uncombed 
hair  hung  loosely  over  his  forehead,  came  down  to  his  cheeks, 
and  concealed  a  broad  and  prominent  forehead  ;  the  keen  eye 


492  HISTORY   OF  THE 

that  peered  from  beneath  his  heavy  and  overjutting  eyebrows 
beamed  with  intelligence ;  the  prominent  cheek  bones,  pro- 
jecting chin,  and  large  nose,  indicated  anything  but  intellect- 
ual feebleness ;  while  the  wide  mouth,  depressed  at  its  cor- 
ners, the  slightly  expanded  nostrils,  and  the  tout  ensemble  of 
his  expression,  indicated  both  sorrow  and  love.  His  words 
were  pure  and  well-chosen,  his  accent  never  misplaced,  his 
sentences  grammatical,  artistically  constructed,  and  well  ar- 
ranged, both  for  harmony  and  effect.  Having  stated  and 
illustrated  his  position  clearly,  he  laid  broad  the  foundation 
of  his  argument,  and  piled  stone  upon  stone,  hewed  and  pol- 
ished, until  he  stood  upon  a  majestic  pyramid,  with  heaven's 
own  light  around  him,  pointing  the  astonished  multitude  to  a 
brighter  home  beyond  the  sun.  As  he  closed  his  discourse, 
every  energy  of  his  mind  and  body  seemed  stretched  to  the 
utmost  point  of  tension.  The  audience  were  well-nigh  para- 
lyzed beneath  the  avalanche  of  thought  that  descended  upon 
them.  I  returned  from  the  ground  dissatisfied  with  myself, 
and  saying  within  me,  '  O  that  I  were  a  Christian ! '  He 
preached  to  audiences  as  large,  and  with  results  as  astonishing, 
as  I  have  ever  witnessed.  He  was  a  perfect  gentleman.  His 
mind  seemed  filled  with  beautiful  analogies,  by  which  he  could 
rise  from  the  material  to  the  spiritual,  and  make  an  easy  path 
to  heaven  from  any  point  of  earth." 

Among  these  extraordinary  men  young  Henry  B.  Bascom 
appeared  in  the  Western  itinerancy  in  1813.  Down  to  1823  he 
filled  laborious  appointments  in  Ohio,  Western  Virginia,  Ten- 
nessee, and  Kentucky.  In  the  last  year  he  was  elected  chap- 
lain to  Congress,  through  the  influence  of  Henry  Clay.  In 
1827  he  was  elected  president  of  Madison  College,  in  Union- 
town,  Pa.  In  1832  he  was  elected  professor  of  Moral  Science 
and  Belles-lettres,  in  Augusta  College,  Kentucky.  He  was  a 
delegate  in  the  General  Conference  of  1844,  when  the  Church 
was  divided,  was  prominently  active  in  that  event,  and  shared 
in  the  Southern  Methodist  Convention,  at  Louisville,  in  1845, 
and  also  in  the  Southern  General  Conference  of  1846,  by  which 
he  was  appointed  editor  of  the  Southern  Methodist  Quarterly 
Keview.     The  General  Conference  of  1849  elected  him  bishop. 


• 


,  '/>,,/>. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  493 

On  the  last  Sunday  of  July,  1850,  lie  preached  his  last  sermon 
in  St.  Louis ;  an  effort  of  great  eloquence,  occupying  two 
hours.  In  the  ensuing  September  he  died  at  Louisville,  aged 
fifty-four  years.  In  person  he  was  a  model  of  physical  dignity 
and  beauty;  tall,  well-proportioned,  with  perfectly  symmet- 
rica) features,  black  and  dazzling  eyes,  and  a  forehead  expand- 
ed and  lofty,  "  a  very  throne  of  intellect."  He  was  fastidious 
in  his  apparel,  reticent  in  his  manners,  and  habitually  seemed 
morbidly  self-conscious.  He  published  a  volume  of  sermons ; 
but  they  give  no  explanation  of  his  peculiar  eloquence,  and 
will  hardly  bear  critical  examination.  He  was  self-educated, 
and,  though  very  thoroughly  so,  escaped  not  the  usual  defects 
of  self-training.  His  style  was  elaborate,  abounded  in  new- 
coined  words,  and  was  sometimes  grandiloquent ;  his  imagina- 
tion was  exuberant,  too  often  excessive;  his  argumentation 
complicated,  his  thoughts  abrupt  and  fragmentary.  His  ser- 
mons were  brilliant  mosaics,  apparently  composed  of  passages 
which  had  been  laboriously  prepared,  at  long  intervals,  and 
without  much  relation  to  the  discourse  as  a  whole.  They 
lacked  simplicity ;  were  artificial,  without  the  facility  or  ease 
which  characterizes  the  mastery  of  art  by  disguising  its  labor. 
But,  in  spite  of  his  defects,  his  power  has  seldom  been  rivaled 
in  the  American  pulpit;  he  was  a  wonder  of  genius  to  the 
people,  and  drew  them  in  multitudes  which  no  temple  could 
accommodate. 

Thomas  A.  Morris,  a  man  entirely  contrasted  with  Bascom, 
and  destined  to  much  more  extensive  service  in  the  Church, 
joined  the  itinerancy  in  1816.  He  was  born  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Kanawha  River,  Kanawha  County,  five  miles  above 
Charlestown,  in  Western  Virginia,  in  1794,  joined  the  Church 
in  1813,  and  was  licensed  to  preach  the  next  year.  His  itin- 
erant ministry  in  the  West  was  extensive  and  successful  down 
to  1834,  when  he  was  appointed  the  first  editor  of  the  Western 
Christian  Advocate,  at  Cincinnati,  and  issued  the  first  number 
of  that  influential  paper  on  the  2d  of  May.  In  1836  he  was 
elected  bishop,  which  office  he  has  continued  to  sustain  with 
pre-eminent  wisdom  down  to  our  day,  being  for  many  years 
the  senior  of  the  episcopate.     During  the  perilous  crises  of  the 


494  HISTORY   OF   THE 

denomination,  in  the  antislavery  controversy  and  the  southern 
secession,  he  has  guided  the  Church  with  unwavering  pru- 
dence. He  is  short  in  stature,  corpulent,  with  a  ruddy  com- 
plexion, and  an  intellectual  brow;  extremely  cautious  in 
speech,  and  reserved  in  manners ;  brief  in  his  sermons,  not 
usually  exceeding  thirty  minutes,  but  exceedingly  pertinent  in 
thought,  and  terse  and  telling  in  style;  among  his  familiar 
friends  a  most  entertaining  talker,  given  to  reminiscences  of 
early  itinerant  adventures  and  humorous  anecdotes ;  a  man  of 
most  wholesome  mind,  tranquil  piety,  and  soundest  judgment. 
He  has  contributed  considerably  to  the  literature  of  the 
Church  in  a  volume  of  sermons,  remarkable  for  their  con- 
densed sense,  practical  appropriateness,  and  pure  and  vigor- 
ous style ;  a  volume  of  biographical  and  historical  sketches  of 
the  western  ministry,  and  numerous  editorial  and  other  frag- 
mentary productions.  He  lingers  in  broken  health,  but  in  the 
unbroken  affection  and  veneration  of  the  Church. 

Another  pre-eminent  preacher,  John  P.  Durbin,  entered 
the  western  itinerancy  in  1818,  though  his  name  does  not  ap- 
pear in  the  Minutes  till  1820.  His  education  up  to  his  four- 
teenth year  was  of  the  commonest  kind  of  the  frontier.  In 
the  autumn  of  1818  he  was  converted.  He  soon  felt  that  it 
was  his  duty  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and  was  appointed  to  the 
northwest  corner  of  Ohio.  Here  he  began  his  studies  in  the 
cabins,  where  there  was  but  one  room,  which  served  for  chapel, 
parlor,  kitchen,  dining-room,  and  chamber  for  the  whole 
family.  He  studied  in  the  winter  by  firelight,  which  was 
made  by  pine-knots  and  dry  wood,  prepared  by  the  boys,  who 
used  to  wonder  at  him  as  a  living  marvel.  The  next  year  he 
was  sent  into  Indiana,  and  had  for  his  colleague  James  Collord, 
later,  for  many  years,  the  printer  of  the  Methodist  Book  Con- 
cern, New  York.  At  Collord's  instance  he  began  to  study 
English  Grammar,  and  from  him  he  received  much  instruc- 
tion. Toward  the  close  of  the  year  he  attracted  the  notice  of 
Dr.  Martin  Ruter,  who  advised  him  to  study  Latin  and  Greek, 
and  gave  him  a  grammar  or  two.  He  studied  indefatigably, 
and,  as  he  was  stationed  the  third  year  in  Hamilton,  Ohio, 
about  twelve  miles  from  the  Miami  University,  (at  Oxford,) 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  495 

he  used  to  go  to  the  university  on  Monday,  stay  all  the  week, 
pursuing  his  studies,  and  return  on  Friday  evening  to  prepare 
for  the  Sunday.  The  next  year  he  was  stationed  in  Cincin- 
nati, and  was  admitted  to  the  Cincinnati  College,  wTith  the 
personal  countenance  of  Dr.  Euter  and  the  late  President 
Harrison.  Here  he  finished  his  collegiate  course,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  degree  of  A.  M.  without  being  required  to  take 
first  the  degree  of  A.  B.  He  subsequently  occupied  important 
positions  as  pastor,  presiding  elder,  professor  and  president  of 
colleges,  editor  and  author.  In  1850  he  was  appointed  unani- 
mously, by  the  bishops,  missionary  secretary,  in  the  place  of 
Dr.  Pitman,  who  had  resigned  on  account  of  ill  health.  The 
General  Conference  of  1852  reappointed  him  to  the  same  post? 
which  he  has  ever  since  occupied  with  admirable  ability. 

Dr.  Durbin  is  distinguished  both  as  a  preacher  and  an  ex- 
ecutive officer.  It  is  difficult  to  describe  his  preaching.  He 
begins  with  a  tone,  look,  and  style  which  would  at  once  damp 
all  favorable  expectation  were  it  not  for  his  general  fame. 
The  statement  of  his  subject,  and  the  outline  of  his  discourse, 
are  not  usually  remarkable ;  but  as  he  advances  some  unique 
thought,  or  some  ordinary  thought  strikingly  presented,  startles 
the  interest  of  the  hearer,  and  his  attention  is  riveted  through 
the  remainder  of  the  sermon.  The  entire  self-possession  and 
agreeable  facility  with  which  the  preacher  proceeds  in  his  dis- 
course delights  the  listener  by  the  relief  which  his  manner  thus 
affords  to  his  feeble  and  peculiar  voice.  The  frequent  occur- 
rence of  striking  passages,  striking  often  by  their  beauty,  but 
often  also  by  the  mere  manner  of  their  utterance,  yet  always 
endued  with  a  strange,  a  mystic  power  over  the  soul  of  the 
hearer,  calls  forth  spontaneous  ejaculations  or  sudden  tears. 
He  has  also  a  habit  of  introducing  into  almost  every  sermon 
some  odd  or  equivocal  speculative  suggestion  which  never  fails 
to  provoke  thought  on  the  part  of  his  audience.  His  sermons  are 
usually  long,  but  no  one  tires  of  them ;  no  one  hears  the  last 
sentence  without  regret.  He  excels  in  illustration,  in  pictur- 
esque description,  and  in  pathos.  He  has  been  distinguished 
by  ability  in  every  sphere  of  his  public  life  ;  in  no  one  of  them 
has  he  ever  failed.     A  capacity  for  details,  practical  skill, 


496  HISTORY    OF   THE 

promptness,  energy  that  never  tires,  because  it  moves  always 
calmly,  though  incessantly,  the  power  to  carry  with  him  the 
interest  of  the  people,  these  have  been  the  elements  of  his 
strength,  and  have  rendered  him  one  of  the  most  capable 
officers  in  the  Church. 

Thus  did  the  West  raise  up,  in  these  years,  men  who  were 
not  only  adapted  to  its  own  peculiar  frontier  work,  but  some 
of  whom,  by  their  genius  and  self-culture,  were  fitted  to  take 
the  highest  positions  in  the  denomination,  and  to  become  the 
chief  attractions  of  its  eastern  pulpits.  They  were  now  ex- 
tending Methodism,  with  a  sort  of  triumphal  march,  all  over 
the  "Redstone  country,"  the  Northwestern  Territory,  the 
Holston  Mountain  Valleys,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee.  It  had 
already  become  the  predominant  form  of  religion  in  these 
vast  regions,  and  was  molding  into  Christian  civilization  their 
rapidly  growing  populations.  Meanwhile  its  itinerants  were 
extending  their  victories  southward  in  the  Yalley  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. "We  have  followed  Gibson  in  his  romantic  and  heroic 
mission  to  Natchez  as  early  as  1799,  and  seen  the  labors  and 
sufferings  of  his  first  humble  itinerant  reinforcements,  and  the 
arrival  of  Lamer  Blackman  in  1804,  as  also  the  westward 
advance  of  the  South  Carolina  Conference  itinerants,  and  the 
southward  progress  of  those  of  Eastern  Tennessee  into  Ala- 
bama, all  pushing  southwesterly  toward  the  standard  planted 
on  the  distant  Mississippi  by  Gibson. 

From  the  Western  Conference  of  1805  Asbury  dispatched 
Elisha  W.  Bowman  to  survey  the  still  further  South,  and  in- 
troduce Methodism  among  the  English  settlements  of  Louis- 
iana. He  made  his  way  to  New  Orleans  and  Opelousas,  and 
the  next  year  the  name  of  the  latter  appears,  for  the  first  time, 
in  the  annual  Minutes,  with  Bowman  as  its  Circuit  preacher. 
It  is  placed  under  the  control  of  Blackman,  who  had  hitherto 
been  traveling  the  solitary  Circuit  of  the  South  Mississippi, 
that  of  Natchez,  but  who  now  became  presiding  elder  of  the 
"  Mississippi  District,"  which  was  first  reported  in  1806. 

In  1807  Jacob  Young  was  sent  thither.  Five  Circuits,  with 
as  many  preachers,  were  assigned  him.  They  journeyed  on, 
forty  or  fifty  miles  a  day,  through  Indian  tribes — the  Chicka- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  497 

saws  and  Choctaws — and  all  kinds  of  frontier  hardships.  Ar- 
riving at  Fort  Gibson,  they  pitched  their  tent  "  on  the  Com- 
mon," and  soon  after  met  Blackman,  Bowman,  and  Lasley,  the 
only  three  preachers  of  the  country.  These  were  about  to  re- 
turn ;  but  with  Young  were  Richard  Browning,  John  Travis, 
Zedekiah  M'Minn,  James  Axley,  (a  host  in  himself,)  and  An- 
thony Houston.  In  two  days  the  new  itinerants  had  dispersed 
to  their  hard  work. 

About  two  years  Young  continued  to  travel  this  great  Dis- 
trict, through  scenes  of  wild  life  the  most  incredible,  often 
swimming  rivers,  losing  himself  in  woods  and  swamps,  making 
his  way  by  Indian  trails,  lodging  in  filthy  cabins,  and  encoun. 
tering  at  many  of  his  appointments  the  most  godless,  reckless, 
hardy,  and  degraded  population  of  the  whole  American  frontier; 
many  of  them  men  of  high  crimes,  who  had  escaped  thither 
from  the  retributions  of  justice  in  older  settlements.  Axley's 
field  was  the  Opelousas  Circuit,  where  he  labored  mightily, 
and  was  in  great  favor  with  many  of  the  rudest  settlers,  though 
fiercely  persecuted  by  others.  He  was  "  out  of  money,"  says 
Young,  "  and  his  clothing  very  ragged  ;  we  made  him  up  some 
money  to  buy  him  some  clothes,  and  sent  it  to  him,  but  he 
paid  the  money  out  for  flooring-boards.  He  then  went  into 
the  forest  and  cut  down  pine-trees,  and  hewed  them  with  his 
own  hands ;  next,  borrowed  a  yoke  of  oxen,  and  hauled  them 
together;  finally,  he  called  the  neighbors  to  raise  the  house, 
which  he  covered  wTith  shingles,  made  with  his  own  hands. 
He  built  his  pulpit,  cut  out  his  doors  and  windows,  bought 
him  boards,  and  made  seats.  He  then  gave  notice  that  the 
meeting-house  was  ready,  and  if  the  people  would  come  to- 
gether he  would  preach  to  them.  They  all  flocked  out  to  hear 
him.  He  preached  several  times,  then  read  the  General  Rules, 
and  told  them  if  they  would  conform  to  those  rules  he  would 
take  them  into  the  Methodist  Church.  The  first  day  he  opened 
the  church  door  eighteen  joined."  Axley  thus  built  with  his 
own  hands  the  first  Methodist  Church  in  Louisiana.  After 
toiling  there  alone  many  months  "  our  beloved  Brother  Axley 
returned,"  says  Young,  "from  Louisiana  to  the  Mississippi  Ter- 
ritory.    When  he  went  to  Louisiana  he  was  a  large,  fine-look- 

32 


49S  HISTORY    OF    THE 

ing  man  ;  but  his  flesh  had  since  fallen  off,  and  he  looked  quite 
diminutive.  His  clothes  were  worn  out,  and  when  he  saw  his 
brethren  he  could  not  talk  for  weeping.  The  people  soon 
clothed  him,  his  health  became  restored,  his  spirits  revived, 
and  he  came  to  our  camp-ground  in  pretty  good  order."  His 
fellow-laborers  also  suffered  much.  Travis  was  prostrated  with 
typhoid  fever,  and  had  to  be  left  on  the  route  homeward  to 
the  North. 

John  M'Clure  succeeded  Young,  and  had  charge  of  the  Dis- 
trict two  years,  when  (1810)  Miles  Harper  took  command  of  it 
for  one  year,  with  a  reinforcement  of  preachers,  enlarging  the 
little  corps  to  ten.  It  was  now  that  its  most  eminent  evangel- 
ist, and  one  of  the  most  notable  men  of  the  American  ministry, 
William  Winans,  appeared  there.  When  about  eighteen  years 
old  he  received  "thirteen  and  a  half  days'"  instruction  at 
school,  the  only  academic  education  of  his  life.  He  had  heard 
Yalentine  Cook,  and  other  celebrated  itinerants,  who  had 
preached  in  his  mother's  cabin,  and  through  most  of  his  early 
life  was  addicted  to  religious  reflection.  In  1808  he  was 
licensed  to  preach,  and  sent  to  .Limestone  Circuit,  Ky.  The 
Conference  held  at  Shelbyville,  Ky.,  in  1810,  dispatched  him 
to  the  Southern  Mississippi,  where  he  traveled  the  Claiborne 
Circuit.  He  made  his  way  thither  through  the  Indian  and 
other  dangers  of  the  wilderness  route,  like  Gibson,  Black- 
man,  Young,  and  their  associates,  and  at  once  proved  himself 
the  right  man  for  the  peculiar  exigencies  of  the  country.  None 
of  his  predecessors  had  borne  to  it  more  gigantic  energies  of 
mind  or  body.  "And  what  changes,"  writes  one  of  his  friends, 
"  he  witnessed  !  In  1810  the  work  of  the  Mississippi  preachers 
extended  over  what  is  now  the  territory  of  Louisiana,  Missis- 
sippi, and  Alabama  Conferences.  There  were  but  ten  itiner- 
ants in  this  great  field  of  labor,  and  the  whole  number  of 
Church  members  five  hundred  and  nine.  Now,  in  these  Con- 
ference bounds  there  are  more  than  three  hundred  itinerants, 
and  between  eighty  and  ninety  thousand  Church  members ! 
The  number  of  preachers  has  increased  thirtyfold,  the  Church 
members  upward  of  one  hundred  and  sixtyfold !  Nor  is  this 
all.     The  Mississippi  Conference  has  contributed  largely  to  the 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH,  499 

Memphis,  Arkansas,  Florida,  and  the  Texan  Conferences, 
and  somewhat  to  the  California  Conference.  In  this  great 
work  William  Winans  has  been,  under  Providence,  mainly  in- 
strumental." 

William  Winans  became  the  most  representative  character 
of  Southwestern  Methodism.  His  last  appearance  in  the  North 
was  at  the  memorable  General  Conference  of  1844  in  New 
York,  where  the  secession  of  the  Southern  Church,  on  account 
of  slavery,  was  initiated.  He  took  a  chief  part  in  that  contro- 
versy, for  he  had  himself  become  a  slaveholder,  under  the  plea 
of  domestic  necessity.  He  was  then,  next  to  Peter  Cartwright, 
the  most  unique  man  in  the  assembly ;  tall,  thin,  weather-worn, 
and  looking  the  very  image  of  a  frontier  settler  who  had  worn 
himself  lean  by  the  labors  of  the  field  and  the  hunts  of  'the 
woods.  He  wore  no  stock  or  neckerchief,  his  shirt  collar  lay 
slouchingly  about  his  neck,  and  his  whole  attire  had  the  ap- 
pearance of  habitual  neglect.  And  yet  this  rough  backwoods- 
man was  a  "  doctor  of  divinity."  In  discourse  he  was  most  in- 
tensely earnest,  the  tight  features  of  his  face  became  flushed 
and  writhed  with  his  emotions,  his  eye  gleamed,  and  his  voice 
(strong  but  harsh)  thrilled  with  a  stentorian  energy  and  over- 
whelming effect.  In  contrast  with  these  traits  (unrelieved  as 
they  were  by  a  single  exterior  attraction)  was  a  mind  of  aston- 
ishing power — comprehensive,  all  grasping,  reaching  down  to 
the  foundations  and  around  the  whole  circuit  of  its  positions ; 
not  touching  subjects,  but  seizing  them  as  with  the  claws  of  an 
eagle.  His  style  was  excellent,  showing  an  acquaintance  with 
the  standard  models,  and  his  scientific  allusions  proved  him 
well  read  if  not  studied  in  general  knowledge.  With  the  seces- 
sion of  the  South  and  the  consequent  civil  war,  much  of  the 
great  work  he  had  done  in  Mississippi  and  Louisiana  was  un- 
done ;  but  after  the  restoration  of  peace  its  germs  were  still 
found  vital  in  the  soil,  and  promise  again  to  cover  those  ex- 
tended regions  with  evangelical  harvests. 

The  extraordinary  history  of  Richmond  Nolley  has  heretofore 
been  sketched  down  to  his  departure  from  South  Carolina  for 
the  southwest,  whither  he  was  sent,  with  Lewis  Hobbs,  Drury 
Powell  and  Thomas  Griffin,  in  1812.     They  set  out  together  on 


500  HISTORY   OF  THE 

horseback,  and  journeyed  through  the  forests  and  Indian  tribes 
three  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  "swimming  deep  creeks,  and 
camping  out  eleven  nights,"  till  they  arrived  at  Kolley's  appoint- 
ment, the  Tombigbee  Mission.  For  two  years  he  ranged  over 
a  vast  extent  of  country,  preaching  continually,  stopping  for  no 
obstructions  of  flood  or  weather.  When  his  horse  could  not  go 
on  he  shouldered  his  saddle-bags  and  pressed  forward  on  foot. 
When  Indian  hostilities  prevailed,  and  the  settlers  crowded 
into  isolated  forts  and  stockades,  Nolley  sought  no  shelter,  but 
hastened  from  post  to  post,  instructing  and  comforting  the 
alarmed  refugees.  He  kept  "  the  Gospel  sounding  abroad 
through  all  the  country,"  says  our  authority.  It  was  in  this 
wild  country  that  happened  the  fact,  often  cited  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  energy  of  the  primitive  Methodist  ministry :  In 
making  the  rounds  of  his  field  Volley  came  to  a  fresh  wagon- 
track.  On  the  search  for  anything  that  had  a  soul,  he  followed 
it,  and  came  upon  the  emigrant  family  just  as  it  had  pitched 
on  the  ground  of  its  future  home.  The  man  was  unlimbering 
his  team,  and  the  wife  was  busy  around  the  fire.  "  What !  " 
exclaimed  the  settler  upon  hearing  the  salutation  of  the  visitor, 
and  taking  a  glance  at  his  unmistakable  appearance,  "  have  you 
found  me  already  ?  Another  Methodist  preacher  !  I  left  Vir- 
ginia to  get  out  of  reach  of  them,  went  to  a  new  settlement  in 
Georgia,  and  thought  to  have  a  long  whet,  but  they  got  my 
wife  and  daughter  into  the  Church ;  then,  in  this  late  purchase? 
[Choctaw  Corner,]  I  found  a  piece  of  good  land,  and  was  sure  I 
would  have  some  peace  of  the  preachers,  and  here  is  one  before 
my  wagon  is  unloaded."  Nolley  gave  him  small  comfort : 
"  My  friend,  if  you  go  to  heaven  you'll  find  Methodist  preach- 
ers there  ;  and  if  to  hell,  I  am  afraid  you  will  find  some  there ; 
and  you  see,"  he  said,  "  how  it  is  in  this  world ;  so  you  had 
better  make  terms  with  us,  and  be  at  peace." 

By  1814  he  had  made  his  way  into  Louisiana  to  the  re- 
nowned Opelousas  and  Attakapas  Circuit,  which  lay  far  in  the 
interior  of  that  State,  half  way  of  the  distance  from  New  Or- 
leans to  Texas,  and  extended  from  the  Red  River  to  the  Gulf. 
Wonderful  things  are  still  told  of  his  labors  there.  He  ap- 
peared in  the  next  Conference  an  attenuated,  worn-out  man, 


METnODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  501 

yet  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  send  him  back  to  the  same 
rugged  field.  "  He  went,"  says  his  presiding  elder,  "without 
a  murmur."  He  was  accompanied  on  his  return  by  Griffin, 
his  presiding  elder.  They  crossed  the  Mississippi  and  a  vast 
swamp.  "  The  difficulties  we  had  to  encounter,"  says  Griffin, 
"  were  almost  incredible."  Coming  to  a  place  where  they 
must  separate,  after  embracing  each  other,  with  mutual  bene- 
dictions they  parted.  It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  November, 
and  a  dark,  cold,  rainy  day.  Across  his  path  there  lay  a 
large  swamp  and  deep  creeks,  and  not  a  single  white  man  was 
to  be  found  between  him  and  the  place  of  his  destination. 
Alone  he  traveled  on  till  evening,  when  he  found  himself  at  an 
Indian  village.  "  Having  to  cross  a  creek  before  night,  and 
apprehending  from  the  rains  that  it  would  be  swollen,  he  em- 
ployed an  Indian  to  go  with  him.  When  he  arrived  on  its 
banks  he  found  it,  as  he  anticipated,  a  full  and  angry  flood, 
rushing  tumultuously  along.  There  was  no  alternative  but  to 
cross  or  remain  with  the  savages,  so  he  chose  the  former  ;  and, 
leaving  his  valise,  saddle-bags,  and  a  parcel  of  books  with  the 
Indian,  he  urged  his  horse  into  the  stream.  No  sooner  did  his 
charger  strike  the  current  than  he  was  beaten  down  the  flood. 
The  animal  battled  courageously  with  the  stream,  but  before 
the  other  shore  was  reached,  horse  and  rider  were  far  below 
the  landing-place  of  the  ford,  and,  the  banks  being  high,  it 
was  impossible  for  the  horse  to  gain  a  foothold,  or  make  the 
ascent  of  the  other  shore.  In  the  struggle  to  do  so  the  rider  was 
thrown,  and,  grasping  the  limb  of  a  tree  which  extended  over 
the  stream,  he  reached  the  bank.  The  horse  swam  back  to 
the  side  of  the  stream  whence  he  had  started.  The  missionary 
directed  the  Indian  to  keep  his  horse  till  morning,  and  he 
would  walk  to  the  nearest  house,  which  was  distant  about  two 
miles.  He  traveled  through  the  woods  about  one  mile,  wet, 
cold,  and  weary.  Unable  to  proceed  any  further,  and  con- 
scious perhaps  that  his  work  was  done,  and  that  he  had  at  last 
fulfilled  the  errand  of  his  Master,  he  fell  upon  his  knees,  and 
commended  his  soul  to  God.  There,  in  that  wild  wood  of 
the  far  West,  alone  with  his  God  and  the  ministering  spirits 
that  encamp  around  the  saints,  Richard  Nolley,  the  young 


502  HISTORY    OF   THE 

missionary,  closed  his  eyes  on  earth  to  open  them  in  heaven. 
"When  he  was  found  he  was  lying  extended  upon  the  wet 
leaves,  his  left  hand  upon  his  breast,  and  the  other  lying  by 
his  side.  The  eyes  were  closed,  and  the  gentle  spirit  left  a 
smile  upon  his  pallid  cheek  ere  it  passed  away  to  that  bright 
and  beautiful  world,  where  the  wicked  cease  to  trouble,  and 
the  weary  are  at  rest."  His  knees  were  muddy,  and  there 
were  prints  of  them  in  the  ground,  showing  that  he  had  been 
praying  in  this  last  scene  of  his  mortal  life.  He  had  evidently 
resigned  himself  calmly  to  his  fate,  selecting  a  place  to  die  on, 
beneath  a  clump  of  pines,  composing  his  limbs  and  closing  his 
eyes.  A  traveler  found  him  the  next  day,  bore  him  to  the 
nearest  house,  and  on  Sunday  he  was  buried  "  in  Catahoula 
Parish,  near  the  road  leading  from  Alexandria  to  Harrisonburg, 
and  about  twenty  miles  from  the  latter  place."  He  was  but 
thirty  years  old,  tall,  slender,  emaciated  by  labors  and  fastings ; 
had  dark,  radiant  eyes,  and  a  countenance  full  of  determina- 
tion and  sain tlin ess  ;  was  never  married  ;  "  was  always  busy, 
rising  at  four  o'clock  at  all  times  and  places ;  "  was  a  man  of  no 
extraordinary  intellectual  powers,  but  of  extraordinary  cour- 
age, self-denial,  and  labor,  and  yet  achieved  more  perhaps  by 
his  death  than  by  his  life,  for  his  name  is  consecrated  in  the 
heart  of  the  Church  as  that  of  a  martyr. 

In  1817  appears  in  the  Minutes,  for  the  first  time,  the  title 
of  the  "  Mississippi  Conference,"  ordered  by  the  General  Con- 
ference of  1816.  It  was  organized  at  the  house  of  William 
Foster,  at  Pine  Pidge,  Adams  County,  about  seven  miles 
above  Natchez,  Bishop  Poberts  presiding.  A  southern  author- 
ity, writing  in  1858,  says :  "  The  little  company  of  pioneers 
then  assembled  were  a  feeble  band,  nine  in  number,  all  told. 
They  had  to  provide  for  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  people,  so 
far  as  Methodism  was  concerned,  from  the  Chattahoochee  to 
the  Tennessee  Piver,  and  from  the  Cherokee  nation  east  to  the 
Sabine  Piver  west.  The  little  company  all  slept  under  the 
same  roof,  and  ate  at  the  same  hospitable  table.  From  this 
nucleus  have  sprung  the  Alabama,  Louisiana,  two  Texas  Con- 
ferences, and  a  part  of  the  Memphis  Conference.  It  had  now 
two  Districts,  Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  nine  Circuits,  twelve 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  503 

preachers,  and  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  forty-one  mem 
bers.  By  1820  it  reported  three  Districts,  all  with  State  titles 
— Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Alabama — comprising  the  State 
of  Louisiana  south  of  the  Arkansas,  all  the  Mississippi  Terri- 
tory south  of  the  Tennessee  River,  and  stretching  over  the 
present  States  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama.  It  had  yet  but 
eleven  "  appointments  "  and  seventeen  preachers,  but  most  of 
its  Circuits  were  four  or  five  hundred  miles  around,  and  the 
itinerants  preached  daily.  Many  mighty  men  were  subse- 
quently in  their  ranks,  and  influential  local  or  " located" 
preachers  co-operated  with  them  extensively.  Methodism 
here,  as  elsewhere  in  the  West,  was  rapidly  appropriating  the 
country. 

These  powerful  men  were  under  the  episcopal  guidance  of 
Asburjr  and  M'Kendree ;  leaders  worthy  to  command  such  a 
host.  Asbury  made  through  all  these  years,  down  to  within 
four  or  five  months  of  his  death,  his  annual  visit  to  the  West ; 
but,  as  now  in  all  other  parts  of  the  country,  his  records  give 
us  hardly  any  available  facts. 

Toward  the  end  of  this  period  western  Methodism,  essen- 
tially a  system  of  missionary  evangelization,  became  more 
distinctively  missionary,  by  turning  its  attention  to  the  aborig- 
ines, thereby  prompting  at  last  the  organization  of  the  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  the  Church.  Remarkably  providential 
events  gave  it  this  new  direction.  While  Marcus  Lindsey  was 
preaching  on  a  Sabbath,  in  1815,  in  Marietta,  Ohio,  a  negro 
addicted  to  drunkenness,  and  on  his  way  to  the  river  at  the 
time  to  drown  himself,  heard  the  voice  of  the  itinerant,  went 
to  the  door  of  the  Church,  and,  after  listening  to  the  sermon, 
returned  home  with  an  awakened  conscience.  On  the  next 
Sunday  he  joined  the  society,  and  his  neighbors  soon  saw  that 
he  was  indeed  a  regenerated  man.  He  endeavored,  in  a 
humble  way,  to  do  good,  and  resolved  at  last  to  go  among  the 
Indian  tribes  a  witness  for  the  Gospel.  He  could  read,  and 
was  a  superior  singer.  With  his  Bible  and  hymn  book  he 
traveled  to  the  Delawares,  on  the  Muskingum,  thence  to  a 
tribe  near  Pipetown,  on  the  Sandusky,  thence  to  another  tribe 
on  the  Upper  Sandusky.     In  some  places  he  was  well  received, 


50±  HISTORY   OF   THE 

in  others  fiercely  repelled,  and  in  peril  of  martyrdom  by  the 
tomahawk  ;  but  he  usually  allayed  the  violence  of  the  savages 
by  his  melodious  hymns,  or  by  falling  on  his  knees  in  prayer, 
an  attitude  which  the  Indians  revered  with  wondering  awe. 
On  the  Upper  Sandusky  he  found,  among  the  wigwams  of  the 
Wyandottes,  a  captive  negro,  Jonathan  Pointer,  who  had  been 
taken  by  them  in  Virginia  when  a  child,  and  who  could  act  as 
his  interpreter.  His  first  congregation  consisted  only  of  an  old 
Indian  man,  "  Big  Tree,"  and  an  aged  Indian  woman,  named 
Mary.  But  he  soon  had  the  whole  clan  under  his  influence ; 
and  thus  went  forth,  from  the  first  settlement  in  the  North- 
western Territory,  the  first  American  Methodist  "  missionary," 
John  Stewart,  and  he  an  African,  the  founder  of  that  series  of 
aboriginal  missions  which  has  since  been  extended  over  most 
of  the  Indian  countries,  which  has  rescued,  amid  the  general 
decline  of  the  tribes,  thousands  of  immortal  souls,  and  which 
opened  the  whole  "  missionary  "  career  of  the  denomination. 

These  extraordinary  facts  excited  no  little  interest  in  the 
western  Churches.  Assistance  was  bountifully  sent  to  Stewart 
and  his  converts ;  Jane  Trimble  especially  gave  them  her  sym- 
pathies and  aid.  In  1819  the  Ohio  Conference  adopted  the 
mission,  and  sent  James  Montgomery  as  Stewart's  colleague, 
both  being  under  the  presiding  eldership  of  Finley.  A  school 
was  established  by  the  aid  of  the  national  government.  Fin- 
ley,  Elliott,  Gilruth,  Henkle,  and  many  other  preachers, 
labored  among  the  scattered  communities  of  the  tribe.  Stewart 
was  made  a  local  preacher,  and  died  in  the  faith  in  1823. 
Converted  Wyandottes  bore,  in  1820,  the  news  of  their  evan- 
gelization to  a  portion  of  their  tribe,  near  Fort  Maiden,  in  Can- 
ada ;  two  Indian  preachers  went  thither,  converts  were  mul- 
tiplied, and,  twelve  years  later,  there  were  nine  aboriginal 
missionary  stations  in  Upper  Canada,  with  two  thousand  adult 
Indians,  and  four  hundred  youths  were  receiving  instruction 
in  eleven  schools,  and  the  names  of  John  Sunday,  Peter  Jones, 
and  other  native  evangelists,  became  eminent  in  the  Church 
and  in  Europe. 

The  labors  of  Stewart  and  his  white  colleagues  continued  to 
prosper  greatly.     A  saintly  woman,  Harriet  Stubbs,  sister-in- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  505 

law  of  Judge  M'Lean,  went  to  their  aid  as  teacher  of  Indian 
girls.  "  She  possessed,"  says  Finley,  a  more  courage  and  forti- 
tude than  any  one  of  her  age  and  sex  that  I  have  been  acquainted 
with.  In  a  short  time  the  intrepid  female  missionary  was  the 
idol  of  the  whole  nation.  They  looked  upon  her  as  an  angel- 
messenger  sent  from  the  spirit-land  to  teach  them  the  way  to 
heaven.  They  called  her  the  *  pretty  redbird,'  and  were  only 
happy  in  the  light  of  her  smiles.  This  most  amiable  young 
lady  took  charge  of  the  Indian  girls,  and  began  to  teach  them 
their  letters,  and  infuse  into  them  her  own  sweet  and  happy 
spirit."  It  was  not  long  before  five  leading  chiefs,  Big  Tree, 
Between-the-Logs,  Mononcue,  Hicks,  and  Peacock,  joined  the 
Church.  Big  Tree  was  the  first  convert  of  his  tribe.  Be- 
tween-the-Logs became  a  powerful  preacher;  but  Mononcue 
excelled  him  in  the  peculiar  aboriginal  eloquence,  and  "  was," 
says  Finley,  "a  son  of  thunder."  All  these,  and  hundreds 
more,  after  useful  lives,  dieci  in  the  faith,  but  not  till  they  saw 
Methodist  missions  established  among  their  people  from  Can- 
ada to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  In  about  three  years  after  Stewart 
went,  solitary  and  unsupported,  on  his  mission,  the  "  Mission- 
ary Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church "  arose.  Its 
necessity  had  become  obvious.  It  threw  its  protecting  arms 
around  all  the  Indian  missions,  and  has  since  reached  them 
out,  with  the  Gospel  of  peace,  to  nearly  all  the  ends  of  the 
earth. 

With  such  men,  led  by  such  commanders  as  Asbury  and 
M'Kendree,  we  are  not  surprised  that  western  Methodism 
triumphed  all  over  the  settled  regions  of  the  Mississippi  Valley ; 
that  the  one  Western  Conference  with  which  we  began  this 
period  had  increased  to  five  by  its  close,  each  of  them  bearing 
the  names  of  now  mighty  States — Ohio,  Kentucky,  Missouri, 
Tennessee,  and  Mississippi — that  its  six  presiding  elders' 
Districts  were  now  twenty-seven,  many  of  them  individually 
comprehending  the  territory  of  a  modern  Conference ;  that  its 
thirty-nine  Circuits  were  now  two  hundred,  striking  the  waters 
of  the  great  lakes  on  the  north,  and  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  on 
the  south,  winding  among  the  Alleghany  fastnesses  on  the 
East,  and  threading  the  Indian  trails  to  the  farthest  log-cabins 


506  HISTORY   OF   THE 

on  the  West ;  and  that  its  seventy-two  preachers  had  increased 
to  three  hundred  and  forty,  and  its  communicants  from  fifteen 
thousand  three  hundred  and  fifteen  to  ninety  eight  thousand 
six  hundred  and  forty-two.  The  men  who  were  chief  actors 
in  these  strange  scenes  saw  in  them  "  signs  and  wonders,"  but 
hardly  dared  to  estimate  their  full  significance ;  we  now  see 
that  they  were  constructing  one  of  the  mightiest  religious 
empires  of  our  planet.  Half  the  Methodism,  nearly  half  the 
entire  Protestantism,  of  the  New  World,  lie  now  beyond  the 
Alleghanies.  Strenuous  with  life  and  energies,  boundless  in 
resources,  continually  rearing  churches,  academies,  colleges, 
publishing  houses,  and,  above  all,  noble  men  and  women,  this 
"  great  West,"  for  which  Methodism  showed  such  a  wise  pre- 
science and  heroic  devotion,  seems  destined  soon  to  be  the 
fountain-head,  the  reservoir,  not  only  of  material,  but  of  moral 
resources  for  the  western  hemisphere,  if  not,  indeed,  for  the 
whole  earth. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHTTKCH.  507 


CHAPTEK  XXXII. 

GENERAL  CONFERENCES  OF  1808,  1812,  AND  1816 — SUMMARY  RE- 
VIEW— DEATHS  OF  WHATCOAT,  COKE,  LEE,  AND  ASBURY. 

I  have  traced  the  legislative  development  of- the  Church,  by 
the  General  Conference,  down  to  the  end  of  the  session  of  1804. 
The  next  meeting  of  that  body  was  in  Baltimore,  May  6, 1808. 
It  had  been  anticipated  with  no  little  interest,  as  the  change 
of  its  organization,  to  a  delegated  assembly,  was  generally  ex- 
pected. A  committee  of  two  members  from  each  Annual  Con- 
ference, making  fourteen  in  all,  was  now  appointed  to  report 
on  the  subject.  On  the  twenty-fourth  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee was  substantially  adopted,  "  almost  unanimously."  It 
provided  that  one  representative  for  every  five  members  of  the 
Annual  Conferences  shall  be  sent  to  the  General  Conference ; 
that  the  latter  shall  have  "  full  powers  "  to  make  "  rules  and 
regulations"  for  the  Church  under  certain  "restrictions,"  to 
wit,  that  it  shall  not  change  the  Articles  of  Keligion  ;  nor  allow 
more  than  one  delegate  for  every  five,  nor  less  than  one  for 
every  seven  members  of  an  Annual  Conference ;  nor  do  away 
episcopacy  or  the  itinerancy  of  the  episcopate ;  nor  change  the 
"  General  Rules ; "  nor  abolish  the  right  of  trial  and  appeal  of 
accused  preachers  and  members ;  nor  "  appropriate  the  produce 
of  the  Book  Concern  or  Chartered  Fund,"  except  for  the  bene- 
fit of  ministers  and  their  families.  These  restrictions  could, 
however,  be  suspended  by  the  joint  recommendation  of  all  the 
Annual  Conferences,  together  with  a  majority  of  two  thirds  of 
the  General  Conference.  Such  are  what  are  usually  called  the 
Restrictive  Rules  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  With 
the  "Articles  of  Religion,"  and  the  "General  Rules,"  they 
compose  the  organic  or  constitutional  law  of  the  denomination. 
They  are  attributed  chiefly  to  Joshua  Soule.  In  their  form,  at 
this  time,  they  leave  open  to  change  the  fundamental  interests 


508  HISTORY    OF   THE 

of  the  Church,  even  its  theology  and  terms  of  membership, 
without  representation  of  the  laity ;  but,  in  1832,  the  proviso 
giving  this  power  was  modified,  making  the  Articles  of  Re- 
ligion unalterable,  and  requiring  a  vote  of  three  fourths  of  the 
members  of  the  Annual,  and  two  thirds  of  the  General,  Confer- 
ences to  effect  any  of  the  other  specified  changes.  The  ratio 
of  representation  has  been  repeatedly  altered. 

The  ecclesiastical  system  of  the  Church  had  been  so  thor- 
oughly developed  and  established  by  this  time  that  the  further 
proceedings  of  the  Conference  present  little  more  than  the 
enactment  of  administrative  details.  On  the  12th  of  May 
M'Kendree  was  elected  to  the  office  of  bishop  by  ninety-five 
votes  out  of  a  hundred  and  twenty-eight,  and  consecrated  in 
Light-street  Church  on  the  17th.  The  question  of  slavery, 
which  had  never  failed  to  come  up  in  the  sessions  of  the  Gen- 
eral Conference,  was  again  brought  up  by  Roszell.  M'Claskey 
and  Budd  were  defeated  in  a  motion  to  strike  out  "the  whole 
section  in  the  Discipline  on  the  subject."  Roszell  and  Ware 
carried  a  resolution  to  "  retain  the  first  two  paragraphs  of  the 
section,"  and  to  authorize  the  Annual  Conferences  to  "  form 
their  own  regulations  relative  to  buying  and  selling  slaves." 
The  Conference  adjourned  on  the  26th  of  May,  having  sat 
twenty  days. 

On  May  1,  1812,  the  first  delegated  General  Conference 
assembled  in  the  "old  John-street  Church,"  New  York. 
M'Kendree  submitted  a  written  address  or  message  to  the 
Conference,  the  first  example  of  the  kind.  "  Upon  examina- 
tion," he  said,  "  you  will  find  the  work  of  the  Lord  is  prosper- 
ing in  our  hands.  At  present  we  have  about  one  hundred  and 
ninety  thousand  members,  upward  of  two  thousand  local,  and 
about  seven  hundred  traveling,  preachers  in  our  Connection, 
and  these  widely  scattered  over  seventeen  States,  besides  the 
Canadas  and  several  of  the  territorial  settlements."  After  pro- 
tracted debate  the  ordination  of  local  preachers,  as  elders,  was 
voted ;  but  only  for  localities  where  the  "  official  services  "  of 
local  elders  might  be  necessary,  and  "  provided  that  no  slave- 
holder shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  local  elder  in  any  State 
or  Territory  where  the  civil  laws  will  admit  emancipation,  and 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  509 

suffer  the  liberated  slave  to  enjoy  his  freedom."  '  It  was  or- 
dered that  the  Magazine,  which  had  been  published  in  1789 
and  1790,  should  be  revived,  but  it  was  not,  till  six  years  later. 
Two  days  were  spent  in  a  great  debate  on  the  question  of  the 
election  of  presiding  elders  by  the  Annual  Conferences.  Lee, 
Shinn,  and  Snethen  were  the  leaders  of  the  affirmative,  and 
many  of  the  ablest  delegates  shared  their  opinions ;  but  they 
were  defeated,  the  bishops  being  known  as  profoundly  opposed 
to  it.  At  every  session  of  the  General  Conference  since  1784, 
down  to  1828,  (with  the  possible  exception  of  that  of  1804,) 
this  question  obtruded  itself,  arraying  the  chief  men  of  the 
ministry  against  each  other  in  formidable  parties.  In  the  ses- 
sion of  1812  the  majority  against  the  change  was  but  three ; 
the  delegates  of  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  Genesee  were 
pledged  to  it ;  the  southern  and  western  members  were  mostly 
opposed  to  it.  Lee,  Cooper,  Garrettson,  Ware,  Phoebus,  and 
Hunt  were  its  most  strenuous  advocates. 

In  1816  the  Conference  again  assembled  on  the  first  of  May 
in  Baltimore.  The  war  with  Great  Britain  had  just  closed, 
and  left,  as  has  been  noticed,  some  disturbance  between  the 
Wesleyan  and  American  Methodist  bodies  by  the  encroach- 
ment of  Wesleyan  missionaries  on  the  Canadian  appointments. 
A  letter  from  the  English  Missionary  Board  was  read,  full  of 
congratulations  and  cordial  sentiments,  but  soliciting  the  ces- 
sion of  the  Montreal  appointment,  and  Lower  Canada  generally, 
to  their  control.  A  committee  reported  that  the  great  majority 
of  the  Methodists,  of  both  Upper  and  Lower  Canada,  wished 
the  continuance  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  American  Church, 
and  that  therefore  "  we  cannot,  consistently  with  our  duty  to 
the  Societies,  give  up  any  part  of  them."  On  the  fourteenth 
Enoch  George  and  Robert  R.  Roberts  were  elected  bishops. 
A  course  of  study,  to  be  prepared  by  the  bishops,  or  a  commit- 
tee appointed  by  them,  for  ministerial  candidates,  who  were  to 
be  examined  at  the  Annual  Conferences,  was  ordered ;  the  first 
example  of  any  such  requisition  in  the  Church,  though  habits 
of  reading  and  study  had  always  been  enjoined.  Measures 
were  adopted  providing  for  the  better  support  of  the  ministry ; 
for  repressing  heretical  opinions ;  for  abolishing  pews  (which 


510  HISTORY    OF    TIIE 

were  yet  confined  to  New  England  Churches)  and  assessments, 
or  taxes,  in  support  of  preaching  ;  and  for  the  licensing  of  ex- 
horters.  Joshua  Soule  and  Thomas  Mason  were  elected  Book 
Agents,  and  the  order  for  the  publication  of  the  "  Methodist 
Magazine  "  was  repeated  by  a  motion  of  Bangs,  and  about  two 
years  later  obeyed.  The  question  of  the  election  of  presiding 
elders  was  again  elaborately  debated,  but  lost.  Pickering 
moved  that  the  "  unfinished  business  of  the  last  General  Con- 
ference so  far  as  it  relates  to  slavery  "  be  referred  to  a  select 
committee.  It  was  "Resolved,  That  no  slaveholder  shall  be 
eligible  to  any  official  station  in  our  Church  hereafter  where 
the  laws  of  the  State  in  which  he  lives  will  admit  of  emancipa- 
tion, and  permit  the  liberated  slave  to  enjoy  freedom."  A 
Book  Depository  at  Pittsburgh  was  authorized,  and  the  Mis- 
souri and  Mississippi  Conferences  established.  The  Confer- 
ence adjourned  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  May. 

The  Church  now  advanced  with  increasing  prosperity. 
The  statistical  exhibit  of  Methodism  in  1820  astonished  not 
only  the  Church,  but  the  country.  It  was  evident  that  a 
great  religious  power  *had,  after  little  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury, been  permanently  established  in  the  nation,  not  only 
with  a  practical  system  and  auxiliary  agencies  of  unparalleled 
efficiency,  but  sustained  and  propelled  forward  by  hosts  of  the 
common  people,  the  best  bone  and  sinew  of  the  republic — and 
that  all  other  religious  denominations,  however  antecedent, 
were  thereafter  to  take  secondary  rank  to  it,  numerically  at 
least,  a  fact  of  which  Methodists  themselves  could  not  fail  to 
be  vividly  conscious,  and  which  might  have  critical  effect  on 
that  humble  devotion  to  religious  life  and  work  which  had 
made  them  thus  far  successful.  Their  leaders  saw  the  peril, 
and  incessantly  admonished  them  to  "  rejoice  with  trembling." 
The  aggregate  returns  show  that  there  were  now  273,858  mem- 
bers in  the  Church,  with  between  nine  and  ten  hundred  itiner- 
ant preachers.*      In  the  sixteen  years  of  this  period  there  was 

*  An  error  in  the  Minutes  of  1820  (vol.  i,  p.  346)  is  corrected  by  the  Minutes  of 
1821,  (ibid.,  p.  366.)  The  Minutes  cannot  be  followed  for  the  aggregates  of  any 
given  calendar  year,  for  the  reason  that  the  returns  of  the  Western  Conferences, 
printed  in  any  given  year,  were  made  up  the  preceding  year.  I  correct  this  de- 
fect in  the  estimate  in  my  text.      Bangs  followed  the  Minutes  without  this  modifi- 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL   CHUKOH.  511 

a  gain  of  no  less  than  158,447  members,  and  of  more  than  500 
preachers.  In  the  twenty  years  of  the  century  the  increase 
was  208,964  members,  and  617  preachers;  the  former  had 
much  more  than  quadrupled,  and  the  latter  much  more  than 
trebled. 

The  first  native  American  Methodist  preacher  was  still  alive, 
and  was  to  see  both  this  large  membership  and  its  ministry 
more  than  doubled. 

The  comparative  statistics  of  Methodism  (if  they  may  be 
given  without  the  appearance  of  invidiousness)  showed  its 
peculiar  energy ;  its  communicants  already  lacked  but  about 
13,000  to  be  equal  to  those  of  its  elder  sister,  the  regular 
Baptist  Church,  which  dates  its  American  origin  more  than  a 
century  and  a  quarter  before  it,  and,  in  one  decade  later,  they 
were  to  be  nearly  a  hundred  thousand  in  advance  of  them. 
They  were  already  much  more  than  double  the  number  of 
those  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  more  than  eleven  times 
those  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  In  a  few  years 
more  Methodism  was  to  advance  to  the  front  of  the  Protest- 
antism of  the  New  World,  and  thenceforward,  for  good  or  evil, 
lead  its  van  with  continually  increasing  ascendency.  It  had 
advanced,  by  this  year,  to  the  front  of  the  Methodist  world, 
with  a  majority  of  1,700  over  the  parent  British  denomi- 
nation. 

It  had  by  1820  a  well-defined  ecclesiastical  geography,  cover- 
ing all  the  settled  parts  of  the  republic  and  Canada,  with  its 
eleven  immense  Conferences,  subdivided  into  sixty-four  pre- 
siding elders'  Districts,  and  more  than  five  hundred  Circuits, 
many  of  the  latter  full  five  hundred  miles  in  range;  and  it 
now  possessed,  in  more  or  less  organized  form,  nearly  a  com- 
plete series  of  secondary  or  auxiliary  agencies  of  usefulness, 
literary,  educational,  and  missionary.  It  seemed  thoroughly 
equipped,  and  had  only  to  move  forward. 

cation;  Goss's  u  Statistical  History"  has  followed  Bangs.  The  preachers  for  1820 
are  given  in  the  Minutes  as  904,  but  this  includes  the  preachers  of  the  West  only 
for  1819.  The  Minutes  of  1821  give  the  ministry  as  977  ;  this  includes  the  western 
preachers  of  1820f  but  also  those  of  the  East  down  to  the  end  of  the  spring  (and 
one  Conference  beyond  it)  of  1821.  The  statement  in  the  text  is  sufficiently 
precise. 


512  HISTORY   OF   THE 

In  casting  a  glance  back  over  these  sixteen  years,  so  replete 
with  great  characters  and  achievements,  we  are  reminded  of 
events  which  might  strike  us  as  catastrophes  were  it  not  that 
they  were  in  the  order  of  Divine  Providence,  and  therefore  in 
"  due  season,"  and  illustrations  of  the  Methodistic  maxim  that 
"  God  calls  home  his  workmen,  but  carries  on  his  work." 
Among  a  host  of  men,  many  of  them  prominent,  who  fell  by 
death  in  the  ministerial  field,  Whatcoat,  Coke,  Asbury,  and 
Lee  have  all  disappeared  from  the  scene  as  we  close  the  period. 

Whatcoat  sustained  his  episcopal  functions  with  continual  dis- 
ability from  chronic  disease,  but  was  ever  in  motion  through- 
out the  whole  extent  of  the  Church  North,  South,  East,  and 
West.  His  beautiful  character  preached  more  effectually  than 
his  sermons.  Peculiarly  simple,  sober,  but  serene  and  cheer- 
ful, living  as  well  as  teaching  his  favorite  doctrine  of  sanctifi- 
cation,  extremely  prudent  in  his  administration,  pathetically 
impressive  in  discourse,  and  "  made  perfect  through  suffer- 
ings," he  is  pre-eminently  the  saint  in  the  primitive  calendar 
of  American  Methodism.  In  November,  1806,  Asbury  wrote 
to  Fleming:  "Dear  Father  Whatcoat,  after  thirteen  weeks' 
illness — gravel,  stone,  dysentery  combined— died,  a  martyr  to 
pain  in  all  patience  and  resignation  to  the  will  of  God.  May 
we,  like  him,  if  we  live  long  live  well,  and  die  like  him." 

He  had  "  finished  his  sixth  episcopal  tour  through  the  work 
after  his  consecration,"  says  his  biographer,  • "  or  near  that, 
and,  after  great  suffering,  he  got  an  honorable  discharge  from 
the  Captain  of  his  salvation,  and  by  his  permission  came  in 
from  his  post,  which  he  had  faithfully  kept  for  fifty  years." 
He  took  refuge  at  the  home  of  Senator  Bassett,  Dover,  Del., 
where  he  died,  "  in  the  full  assurance  of  faith,"  say  the  Minutes, 
July  5,  1806.  "He  professed,"  adds  his  brethren,  "  the  justi- 
fying and  sanctifying  grace  of  God,  and  all  that  knew  him 
well  might  say,  If  a  man  on  earth  possessed  these  blessings, 
surely  it  was  Richard  Whatcoat." 

Nearly  a  year  later  Asbury  reached  Dover,  and  over  his  tomb 
declared  that  he  "  knew  Richard  Whatcoat,  from  his  own  age 
of  fourteen  to  sixty-two  years,  most  intimately — his  holy  man- 
ner of  life,  in  duty  at  all  times,  in  all  places,  and  before  all 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  513 

people,  as  a  Christian  and  as  a  minister ;  his  long  suffering  as 
a  man  of  great  affliction  of  body  and  mind,  having  been  exer- 
cised with  severe  diseases  and  great  labors ;  his  charity,  his  love 
of  God  and  man,  in  all  its  effects,  tempers,  words,  and  actions  ; 
bearing,  with  resignation  and  patience,  great  temptations, 
bodily  labors,  and  inexpressible  pain.  In  life  and  death  he 
was  placid  and  calm.     As  he  lived,  so  he  died." 

He  was  thirty-seven  years  an  itinerant  preacher,  twenty- 
two  of  them  in  America,  six  in  the  episcopate,  and  died  aged 
seventy. 

We  have  witnessed  Coke's  final  departure  from  the  United 
States  in  1804.  On  his  return  to  England  he  was  made  pres- 
ident (in  1805)  of  the  Wesleyan  Conference.  After  his  last 
visit  to  this  country  he  seemed,  for  nine  years,  almost  ubiqui- 
tous in  the  United  Kingdom,  administering  the  affairs  of  the 
Wesleyan  Church,  founding  and  conducting  its  Irish,  its 
Welsh,  its  "Domestic,"  and  its  Foreign  Missions,  virtually 
embodying  in  his  own  person  the  whole  missionary  enterprise 
of  English  Methodism.  When  an  old  man  of  nearly  seventy 
years  he  conceived  the  project  of  introducing  Methodism  into 
Asia.  He  presented  himself  before  the  British  Conference, 
and,  against  great  opposition,  entreated,  with  tears,  to  be  sent 
as  a  missionary  to  India,  offering  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
himself  and  seven  chosen  colleagues.  The  Conference  could 
not  resist  his  appeal,  and  at  length,  on  the  30th  of  December, 
1813,  he  departed  with  his  little  band,  consisting  of  nine  per- 
sons besides  himself,  (two  of  them  wives  of  missionaries,)  in 
a  fleet  of  six  Indiamen.  Terrible  gales  swept  over  them.  In 
the  Indian  Ocean  his  health  rapidly  declined.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  third  of  May,  1814,  his  servant  knocked  at  his  cabin 
door  to  awake  him  at  his  usual  time,  but  heard  no  response. 
Opening  the  door  he  beheld  the  lifeless  body  of  the  missionary 
extended  on  the  floor.  A  "  placid  smile  was  on  his  counte- 
nance." He  was  cold  and  stiff,  and  must  have  died  before 
midnight.  It  is  supposed  that  he  had  risen  to  call  for  help, 
and  fell,  by  apoplexy.  His  cabin  was  separated  by  only  a  thin 
wainscot  from  others,  in  which  no  noise  or  struggle  had  been 
heard,  and  it  is  inferred  that  he  expired  without  violent  suf- 

33 


514:  HISTORY   OF  THE 

fering.  Consternation  spread  among  the  missionary  band,  but 
they  lost  not  their  resolution.  They  prepared  to  commit  him 
to  the  deep,  and  to  prosecute,  as  they  might  be  able,  his  great 
design.  A  coffin  was  made,  and  at  five  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon the  corpse  was  solemnly  borne  up  to  the  leeward  gang- 
way,  where  it  was  covered  with  signal  flags ;  the  soldiers  were 
drawn  up  in  rank  on  the  deck  ;  the  bell  of  the  ship  tolled,  and 
the  crew  and  passengers,  deeply  affected,  crowded  around  the 
scene.  One  of  the  missionaries  read  the  burial  service,  and 
the  moment  that  the  sun  sank  below  the  Indian  Ocean  the 
coffin  was  cast  into  its  depths.  He  died  in  his  sixty-seventh 
year.  Though  the  great  leader  was  no  more,  his  spirit  re- 
mained ;  and  the  East  Indian  Missions  of  Methodism,  "  pre- 
senting in  our  day  a  state  of  massive  strength  and  inexpressible 
utility,"  sprang  from  this  fatal  voyage.  The  news  of  his 
death  struck  a  sensation  through  all  the  Methodist  world. 
He  was  commemorated  in  funeral  sermons  in  the  principal 
Methodist  churches  of  America.  Asbury  preached  them  in 
all  his  routes,  before  the  assembled  preachers,  in  Conference, 
and  pronounced  him  a  man  "  of  blessed  mind  and  soul ;  a 
gentleman,  a  scholar,  and  a  bishop ;  and  as  a  minister  of 
Christ,  in  zeal,  in  labors,  and  in  services,  the  greatest  man  in 
the  last  century."  He  had  a  leading  agency  in  the  greatest 
facts  of  Methodism,  and  it  was  impossible  that  the  series 
of  momentous  deeds  which  mark  his  career  could  have  been 
the  result  of  mere  accident  or  fortune.  They  must  have  been 
legitimate  to  the  man.  Neither  Whitefield  nor  Wesley  ex- 
ceeded him  in  ministerial  travels.  It  is  probable  that  no  Method- 
ist of  his  day,  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  Protestant  of  his  day, 
contributed  more  from  his  own  property  for  the  spread  of  the 
Gospel.  His  biographer  says  that  he  expended  the  whole  of  his 
patrimonial  estate,  which  was  large,  on  his  missions  and  their 
chapels.  He  was  married  twice ;  both  his  wives  were  like- 
minded  with  himself,  and  both  had  considerable  fortunes, 
which  were  used  like  his  own.  In  1794  was  published  an  ac- 
count of  his  missionary  receipts  and  disbursements  for  the 
preceding  year,  from  which  it  appeared  that  there  were  due 
him  nearly  eleven  thousand  dollars ;  but  he  gave  the  whole 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  515 

sum  to  the  cause.  Flying,  during  nearly  forty  years,  over 
England,  Scotland,  Wales,  and  Ireland ;  crossing  the  Atlantic 
eighteen  times ;  traversing  the  United  States  and  the  West 
Indies ;  the  first  who  suggested  the  organization  of  English 
Methodism  by  Wesley's  Deed  of  Declaration ;  the  organizer, 
under  Wesley,  of  American  Methodism  ;  one  of  the  first,  if 
not  the  very  first,  of  Protestant  bishops  in  the  Western  hem- 
isphere ;  the  founder  of  the  Methodist  missions  in  the  West 
Indies,  in  Africa,  and  in  Asia,  as  well  as  in  Ireland,  Wales, 
and  England  ;  the  official  and  almost  sole  director  of  the  mis- 
sionary operations  of  the  denomination  during  his  long  public 
life,  and  the  founder  of  its  first  Tract  Society,  he  must  be 
recognized  as  one  of  the  chief  representative  men  of  modern 
religious  history. 

On  the  31st  of  March,  1816,  Francis  Asbury  fell  in  death  at 
the  head  of  the  hosts  of  Methodists  who  had  been  marshaled' 
and  led  on,  chiefly  by  himself,  over  all  the  republic  for  nearly 
half  a  century.     If  a  distinct  portraiture  of  his  character  had 
not  been  attempted,  in  the  outset  of  his  American  career,  it 
would  now  be  superfluous,  for  he  has  thus  'far  been  the  most 
familiar  actor  in  our  story,  the  dominant  hero  of  American 
Methodist  history.     Though  not  the  first,  he  was  the  chief, 
founder  of  the  denomination  in  the  New  World.     The  history 
of  Christianity,  since  the  apostolic  age,  affords  not  a  more  per- 
fect example  of  ministerial  and  episcopal  devotion  than  was 
presented  in  this  great  man's  life.     He  preached  almost  daily 
for  more   than  half  a  century.     During  forty-five   years  he 
traveled,  with  hardly  an  intermission,  the  North  American 
continent  from  North  to  South,  and  East  to  West,  directing 
the  advancing  Church  with  the  skill  and  authority  of  a  great 
captain.     Beginning  his  itinerant  ministry  in  England  when 
but  seventeen  years  of  age,  he  came  to  America  in  his  twenty- 
sixth  year,  was  ordained  bishop  of  the  Church  when   thirty- 
nine  years  old,  when  it  comprised  less  than  fifteen  thousand 
members,  and  but  about  eighty  preachers,  and  fell  in  his  sev- 
enty-first year,  commanding  an  army  of  more  than  two  hun- 
dred and  eleven  thousand  Methodists,  and  more  than  seven 
hundred  itinerant  preachers.     It  has'  been  estimated  that  in 


516  HISTORY    OF    THE 

liis  American  ministry  he  preached  about  sixteen  thousand 
five  hundred  sermons,  or  at  least  one  a  day,  and  traveled  about 
two  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  miles,  or  six  thousand  a 
year  ;  that  he  presided  in  no  less  than  two  hundred  and  twen- 
ty-four annual  Conferences,  and  ordained  more  than  four 
thousand  preachers.  He  was,  in  fine,  one  of  those  men  of 
extraordinary — of  anomalous — greatness,  in  estimating  whom 
the  historian  is  compelled  to  use  terms  which  would  be  irrel- 
evant, as  hyperbole,  to  most  men  with  whom  he  has  to  deal. 
His  discrimination  of  character  was  marvelous ;  his  adminis- 
trative talents  would  have  placed  him,  in  civil  government  or 
in  war,  by  the  side  of  Richelieu  or  Cesar,  and  his  success 
placed  him  unquestionably  at  the  head  of  the  leading  charac- 
ters of  American  ecclesiastical  history.  No  one  man  has  done 
more  for  Christianity  in  the  western  hemisphere.  His  atti- 
tude in  the  pulpit  was  solemn  and  dignified,  if  not  graceful ; 
his  voice  was  sonorous  and  commanding,  and  his  discourses 
were  often  attended  with  bursts  of  eloquence  "  which  spoke  a 
soul  full  of  God,  and,  like  a  mountain  torrent,  swept  all  be- 
fore it."  With  Wesley,  Whitefield,  and  Coke,  he  ranks  as 
one  of  the  four  greatest  representatives  of  the  Methodistic 
movement.  In  American  Methodism  he  ranks  immeasurably 
above  all  his  contemporaries  and  successors.  Notwithstanding 
his  advanced  age  and  shattered  health  he  continued  his  trav- 
els to  the  last,  till  he  had  to  be  aided  up  the  pulpit  steps,  and 
to  sit  while  preaching. 

In  taking  his  last  leave  of  the  West,  some  six  months  be- 
fore he  died,  he  wrote :  "  My  eyes  fail.  I  will  resign  the  sta- 
tions to  Bishop  M'Kendree.  I  will  take  away  my  feet." 
Thence  he  journeyed  southward,  suffering  from  influenza, 
which  resulted  in  pulmonary  ulceration  and  consumption.  He 
endeavored  to  advance  northward,  to  meet,  once  more,  the 
General  Conference  at  Baltimore,  preaching  continually  on  the 
way.  While  passing  through  Yirginia  he  wrote :  "  I  die 
daily — am  made  perfect  by  labor  and  suffering,  and  fill  up 
still  what  is  behind.  There  is  no  time,  no  opportunity  to  take 
medicine  in  the  day ;  I  must  do  it  at  night.  I  am  wasting 
away  with  a  constant  dysentery  and  cough."     In  the  last  en- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  517 

try  of  his  journal  (save  a  single  sentence)  he  says  :  "  My  conso- 
lations are  great.  I  live  in  God  from  moment  to  moment — 
broken  to  pieces."  He  reached  Richmond,  Va.,  and  at  three 
o'clock  Sunday  afternoon,  March  24,  1816,  preached  there,  in 
the  old  Methodist  church,  his  last  sermon.  He  was  carried 
to  and  from  the  pulpit,  and  sat  while  preaching.  His  faith- 
ful traveling  companion,  Bond,  took  him  to  Spottsylvania, 
where  he  failed  rapidly,  and  on  Sunday,  21st,  expired,  raising 
both  his  hands,  when  unable  to  speak,  in  affirmative  reply  to 
an  inquiry  respecting  his  trust  and  comfort  in  Christ.  His 
remains  were  disinterred,  and  borne  to  Baltimore,  at  the  ensu- 
ing General  Conference,  where,  with  public  solemnities,  a  ser- 
mon from  M'Kendree,  and  an  immense  procession,  they  were 
laid  to  rest  beneath  the  altar  of  Eutaw-street  Church. 

In  that  procession,  including  all  the  General  Conference, 
and  hundreds  of  other  clergymen  from  the  city  and  neighbor- 
ing churches,  walked  Jesse  Lee.  Thrift,  his  biographer,  who 
was  by  his  side,  says,  "  The  scene  was  solemn  and  impressive ; 
Lee's  countenance  bespoke  his  emotions.  A  dignified  sorrow 
such  as  veterans  feel  while  following  to  the  grave  an  old  com- 
panion in  arms,  was  evinced  by  his  words  and  countenance. 
They  had  suffered  together,  and  had  long  fought  in  the  same 
ranks.  The  one  had  gained  his  crown,  the  other  was  soon  to 
receive  his."  In  less  than  six  months  Lee  also  had  fallen. 
About  the  middle  of  August  he  went  to  a  camp-meeting,  near 
Hillsborough,  on  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland.  After 
preaching  he  was  seized  with  fever,  and  carried  to  Hillsbor- 
ough. All  remedies  failed.  He  suffered  at  first  from  depres- 
sion ;  but,  "  for  several  days  preceding  his  death  he  was  filled 
with  holy  joy.  Frequently  he  cried  out,  '  Glory,  glory,  glory ! 
halleluiah,  halleluiah !  Jesus  reigns ! '  At  another  time  he 
spoke  with  great  distinctness  and  deliberation  for  nearly 
twenty  minutes,  giving  directions  about  his  affairs,  and  send- 
ing the  assurance  he  was  i  dying  in  the  Lord '  to  comfort  his 
distant  family.  Nor  did  he  forget  his  fellow-laborers.  '  Give 
my  respects  to  Bishop  M'Kendree,'  he  said,  '  and  tell  him  I  die 
in  love  with  all  the  preachers ;  that  I  do  love  him,  and  that 
he  lives  in  my  heart.'     Having  finished  his  work,  he  said  but 


518  HISTORY   OF   THE 

little  more ;  but  fell  asleep  on  the  evening  of  the  12th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1816."  He  was  fifty-eight  years  old.  A  man  of  vig- 
orous, though  unpolished  mind,  of  rare  popular  eloquence  and 
tireless  energy,  an  itinerant  evangelist  from  the  British  prov- 
inces to  Florida  for  thirty-five  years,  a  presiding  elder  for 
many  years,  a  chief  counselor  of  the  Church  in  its  Annual 
and  General  Conferences,  chaplain  to  Congress,  founder  of 
Methodism  in  New  England,  and  first  historian  of  the  Church, 
he  lacked  only  the  episcopal  office  to  give  him  rank  with  As- 
bury  and  Coke.  Asbury  early  chose  him  for  that  position. 
Some  two  or  three  times  it  seemed  likely  that  he  would  be 
elected  to  it,  but  his  manly  independence  and  firmness  of 
opinion,  in  times  of  party  strife,  were  made  the  occasions  of 
his  defeat.  His  staunch  advocacy  of  an  elective  presiding 
eldership,  and  his  opposition  to  the  ordination  of  local  preach- 
ers as  elders,  (questions  of  prolonged  and  spirited  controversy,) 
cost  him  the  suffrages  of  men  who  should  have  been  superior 
to  such  party  considerations,  at  least  in  the  presence  of  such  a 
man.  But  his  historic  position  needed  no  such  addition.  No 
official  distinction  could  enhance  its  dignity.  In  public  serv- 
ices he  may  fairly  be  ranked  next  to  Asbury,  and  as  founder 
and  apostle  of  Eastern  Methodism  he  is  above  any  other 
official  rank.  In  this  respect  his  historic  honor  is  quite 
unique ;  for  though  individual  men  have,  in  several  other 
sections  of  the  continent,  initiated  the  denomination,  no  other 
founder  has,  so  completely  as  he,  introduced,  conducted,  and 
concluded  his  work,  and  from  no  other  one  man's  similar  work 
has  proceeded  equal  advantages  to  American  Methodism. 

Thus  fell,  in  arms,  but  victorious,  toward  the  conclusion  of 
this  period,  one  after  another  of  the  most  conspicuous  heroes 
of  this  grand  Methodistic  battle-field  of  the  New  World ;  the 
last  two  (and,  perhaps,  the  two  most  important  in  the  Amer- 
ican history  of  the  denomination)  in  the  very  year  that  com- 
pleted its  first  half  century,  and  all  of  them  giving,  by  both 
their  great  deeds  and  sublime  deaths,  a  sort  of  epic  grandeur 
and  completeness  to  the  history  of  the  Church  down  to  this 
epoch. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  519 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

PROGRESS   AND   TRIALS    FROM    THE    GENERAL   CONFERENCE   OF 
1820  TO   THE   CENTENARY  JUBILEE,  1866. 

In  the  outset  of  our  narrative  we  noticed  particularly  the  suc- 
cessive Annual  Conferences,  for  they  were,  for  some  years,  the 
highest  assembly  of  Methodism.  From  the  first  regular  Gen- 
eral Conference,  in  1792,  down  to  1820,  we  have  duly  record- 
ed the  sessions  of  that  body ;  for  it  had  become  the  supreme 
one  of  the  denomination.  By  1820,  however,  American  Meth- 
odism may  be  said  to  have  been  completed  in  its  organic 
structure.  The  delegated  form  pf  the  General  Conference, 
adopted  in  1808,  and  exemplified,  for  the  first  time,  in  1812, 
determined  permanently  its  constitutional  law,  except  as  the 
Restrictive  Rules  were  qualified  by  the  session  of  1832,  as 
already  shown,  and  occasional  amendments  of  the  "  General 
Rules  "  on  slavery  and  "  temperance."  Nearly  all  the  impor- 
tant additions  to  its  practical  system — its  auxiliary  institutions 
of  education,  missions,  Sunday-schools,  "Book  Concern" — 
had  also  been  initiated  before  the  date  (1820)  which  we  have 
reached.  Hereafter  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Conferences 
are  to  have  chief  reference  to  these  great  interests.  As,  how- 
ever, it  will  be  most  convenient  to  present  the  substance  of 
such  proceedings  in  summary  and  classified  accounts  of  these 
important  institutions,  we  need  not  delay  by  a  minute  re- 
cord of  the  remaining  sessions.  Their  other  salient  facts,  as 
affecting  the  Church  generally,  can  also  be  best  treated  apart 
from  their  chronological  succession. 

In  nothing,  perhaps,  have  these  sessions  shown  greater  cau- 
tion and  wisdom  than  in  the  supply  of  the  episcopate.  That 
office  sustains  the  highest  responsibility,  and  wields  the  great- 
est power  of  the  denomination.  The  most  reliable  men  have, 
therefore,  ever  been  sought  for  it,  and  the  Church  has  been  provi- 


520  HISTORY   OF    THE 

dentially  successful  in  finding  them.  Coke,  Asbury,  Whatcoat, 
M'Kendree,  George,  and  Koberts  have  tlius  far  been  its  epis- 
copal standard-bearers,  and  more  apostolic  bishops  have  not 
been  known  in  the  modern  history  of  Christianity,  as  our  nar- 
rative fully  shows.  The  later  incumbents  of  the  office  have 
been  Joshua  Soule  and  Elijah  Hedding,,consecrated  in  1824 ; 
J.  O.  Andrews  and  John  Emory,  in  1832 ;  Beverly  Waugh 
and  Thomas  A.  Morris,  in  1836  ;  L.  L.  Hamline  and  E.  S. 
Janes,  in  1844 ;  Levi  Scott,  Matthew  Simpson,  0.  C.  Baker, 
and  E.  R.  Ames,  in  1852 ;  D.  W.  Clark,  E.  Thomson,  and  C. 
Kingsley,  in  1864.  Time  has  greatly  augmented  their  offi- 
cial functions,  and  they  can  no  longer  pass,  like  Asbury  and 
his  immediate  successors,  over  their  long  routes,  locally  inspect- 
ing the  individual  Churches.  They  must  hasten  from  Confer- 
ence to  Conference  through  much  of  the  year,  and  make  journeys 
to  the  Pacific  Coast,  to  Germany,  Scandinavia,  Bulgaria,  Africa, 
India,  and  China,  preaching  as  they  go,  but  burdened  by  in- 
numerable other  duties.  Notwithstanding  the  almost  singular 
purity  and  integrity  of  its  bishops,  the  Church  has  been  pecul- 
iarly hesitant  to  multiply  them.  It  has,  for  many  years,  had 
a  less  number,  in  proportion  to  its  territory  and  membership, 
than  it  had  in  the  first  year  of  its  organization. 

After  the  schism  of  O'Kelly,  which  effectively  began  in  the 
General  Conference  of  1792,  the  denomination  had  a  long 
period  of  comparative  ^peace  and  of  continuous  prosperity. 
But  in  1820  began  a  new  and  graver  disturbance,  which 
reached  its  crisis  in  the  session  of  1828,  and  which  gave  birth 
to  the  "  Methodist  Protestant  Church."  The  controversy  was 
ostensibly  ,on  the  subject  of  Lay  Representation — a  question 
which  has  seldom  ceased  to  agitate  more  or  less  American 
Methodism  from  the  first  decade  of  its  organization  to  our  day. 
The  "Reformers"  published,  in  1820,  a  journal — the  "Wes- 
leyan  Repository" — in  Trenton,  1ST.  J.  A  "Union  Society" 
was  formed  in  Baltimore  to  promote  their  designs.  In  1824 
they  began  a  periodical,  "  The  Mutual  Rights,"  in  the  latter 
city,  and  the  war  now  raged  with  perilous  severity.  Nicholas 
Snethen,  Alexander  M'Cain,  and  Asa  Shinn,  men  of  distinction 
in  the  ministry,  became  champions  of  the  movement.    Henry  B. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  521 

Bascom  wrote  in  defense  of  it.  Disorders  ensued  which  led  to 
ecclesiastical  trials  and  expulsions.  Dr.  Thomas  E.  Bond  ap- 
peared in  "  An  Appeal  to  the  Methodists  "  as  the  defender  of 
the  Church.  Compromises  were  attempted,  but  personal  pas- 
sions had  become  so  commingled  with  the  questions  in  debate 
that  pacificatory  counsels  could  not  be  heeded.  Emory  an- 
swered M'Cain  in  a  memorable  pamphlet,  "  The  Defense  of 
our  Fathers."  A  new  society,  "The  Associated  Methodist 
Reformers,"  was  organized  in  Baltimore,  and  about  six  months 
before  the  session  of  the  General  Conference — November, 
1827 — a  convention  assembled  which  prepared  a  memorial  to 
the  Conference,  which,  together  with  similar  petitions  from 
various  parts  of  the  country,  brought  the  whole  controversy 
before  that  body.  Emory  presented  from  the  Committee  on 
Petitions  an  elaborate  review  of  the  subject — a  report  written 
by  Dr.  Bond — and  the  demands  of  the  petitioners  were  de- 
clined. The  "  Protestant  Methodist  Church  "  soon  after  arose . 
from  this  unfortunate  dispute,  and,  through  many  struggles, 
has  continued  to  our  day.  The  insurmountable  difficulty  of 
the  controversy  was  the  acrimonious  spirit  with  which  it  was 
conducted.  Bangs  hesitates  not  to  blame  both  sides,  though 
he  does  not  admit  the  principal  charge  of  the  "Reformers." 
He  says,  "Whoever  will  consult  the  writings  of  those  days 
will  fin  a  complaints,  on  the  part  of  the  '  Reformers,'  that  an 
attempt  was  made  by  the  advocates  of  the  present  order  of 
things  to  suppress  inquiry,  to  abridge  the  freedom  of  speech 
and  of  the  press,  and  that  trials  were  instituted,  in  part,  at 
least,  as  a  punishment  for  exercising  this  freedom  on  the  sub- 
jects that  were  then  litigated.  This  was  a  great  mistake.  It 
was  for  an  abuse  of  this  freedom,  for  indulging  in  criminations 
injurious  to  individual  character,  that  the  delinquents  were 
tried  and  finally  condemned.  This  will  appear  manifest  to 
every  person  who  will  impartially  inspect  the  charges,  the 
specifications,  and  the  testimony  selected  from  'The  Mutual 
Rights'  to  support  the  accusations,  and  also  from  the  Report 
of  the  General  Conference  on  petitions  and  memorials.  It  was 
indeed  expressly  disavowed  at  the  time  by, the  prosecutors 
and  by  all  who  had  written  on  the  subject,  that"  they  wished 


522  HISTORY   OF   THE 

to  suppress  freedom  of  inquiry,  either  in  writing  or  speaking, 
provided  only  that  the  debaters  would  confine  their  discussions 
to  an  investigation  of  facts  and  arguments,  without  impeaching 
the  character  and  motives  of  those  from  whom  they  dissented." 
The  "Itinerant"  was  established  by  the  Church  party,  in 
Baltimore,  as  an  organ  of  its  defense.  "  At  last,"  says  Bangs, 
"  the  spirit  of  contention,  which  had  long  been  impatient  of 
control,  became  wearied,  and  the  combatants  gradually  re- 
tired from  the  field  of  controversy,  the  ' Itinerant'  was  dis- 
continued, and  the  'Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,'  which 
had,  indeed,  said  but  little  on  the  subject,  proposed  a  truce, 
which  seemed  to  -be  gladly  accepted  by  the  dissentient  breth- 
ren, and  they  were  left  to  try  the  strength  of  their  newly- 
formed  system  without  further  molestation  from  their  old 
brethren." 

The  new  denomination  reported  at  its  outset  5,000  mem- 
bers and  83  preachers.  It  extended  rapidly  into  most  sections 
of  the  country,  but  has  encountered  severe  trials.  The  anti- 
slavery  controversy  rent  it  in  1858,  when  nineteen  of  its  Con- 
ferences disowned  "  such  Conferences  and  Churches  as  prac- 
ticed or  tolerated  slaveholding,"  their  General  Conference 
having  declined  to  respond  to  their  petitions  against  slave- 
trading.  Since  the  rebellion,  and  its  solution  of  the^  i>roblem 
of  slavery,  many  of  the  Southern  Churches  have  been  merged 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.  In  the  North 
there  is  a  growing  disposition  to  return  to  the  parent 
body,  especially  since  the  General  Conference  of  the  latter 
has  expressed  a  willingness  to  accord  Lay  Representation 
whenever,  a  majority  of  the  Church  shall  demand  it.  The 
Protestant  Methodists,  however,  still  report  more  than  800 
traveling,  nearly  800  local  preachers,  and  above  100,000 
Church  members.  They  sustain  four  weekly  papers,  two  Book 
Concerns,  a  Mission  Board,  and  seven  colleges. 

At  the  General  Conference  of  1828  also  culminated,  but 
amicably,  the  question  of  the  independence  of  Canadian 
Methodism.  We  have  already  seen  that  as  early  as  the  British 
and  American  War  of  1812  a  controversy  arose  between  the 
Wesleyan  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches  respecting  the 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  523 

alleged  intrusion  of  the  former  on  the  provincial  fields  of  the 
latter.  Though  the  dispute  was  concluded  with  the  never- 
failing  mutual  cordiality  of  these  bodies,  by  correspondence 
and  the  official  visit  of  Emory  to  England,  by  order  of  the 
General  Conference  of  1820,  yet  the  war  had  left  no  little  dis- 
affection in  Canada  toward  the  American  Church,  and  its 
jurisdiction  over  its  provincial  societies  subjected  them  to 
serious  disabilities.  The  preachers  in  Canada,  therefore,  pro- 
posed, at  their  Conference  of  1824,  a  separate  organization  of 
the  provincial  Church,  and  memorialized  the  General  Con- 
ference to  thus  organize  them.  The  latter  body  saw  the  ex- 
pediency of  the  change,  but,  acknowledging  that  it  had  no 
constitutional  power  to  divide  the  denomination,  it  seemed 
inextricably  embarrassed  with  the  question,  till  Emory  sug- 
gested that,  as  it  had  a  right  to  withdraw  from  any  field,  (a 
foreign  mission,  for  example,)  and  as  all  preachers  to  Canada 
had  hitherto  been  sent  thither  with  their  own  consent,  and  not 
imperatively  appointed,  as  in  the  States,  the  Church  could 
cease  to  make  appointments  beyond  the  boundary  line,  and 
thus  leave  the  Canadian  brethren  to  organize  and  provide  for 
themselves.  The  Conference  facilitated  the  rearrangement  of 
the  distant  field  as  much  as  possible,  making  liberal  provisions 
for  it,  and  recommending  the  adoption  of  the  "  form  of  gov- 
ernment of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States."  Canadian  Methodism  has  ever  since  been  independ- 
ent, but  the  most  friendly  relations  have  subsisted  between  the 
parent  Church  and  its  vigorous  offspring.  The  latter  has 
passed  through  varied  fortunes,  but  has  greatly  prospered.  A 
portion  of  its  preachers  and  people  insisted  on  retaining  the 
Episcopal  system  of  the  original  Church,  which  was  not 
finally  established  by  the  separated  body.  Much  contro- 
versy prevailed,  attended  with  the '  usual  intermixture  of 
passion  and  doubtful  motives.  A  subdivision  followed,  and 
we  have  now  "The  Canadian  "Wesleyan  Church,"  and  the 
"  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Canada,"  the  former  report- 
ing more  than  56,000  members,  500  itinerant  preachers,  and 
750  Sunday-schools,  with  about  45,000  scholars ;  a  university, 
a  female  college,  and  a  Book  Concern  with  its  weekly  paper. 


524:  HISTORY  OF   THE 

The  Episcopal  section  reports  three  Annual  Conferences,  two 
bishops,  216  traveling  and  224  local  preachers,  and  20,000 
members ;  a  seminary,  a  female  college,  and  a  weekly  news- 
paper. Both  bodies  are  in  amicable  relations  with  the  General 
Conference  of  the  Church  in  the  States.  There  is  also  a 
"  Canadian  "Wesleyan  Methodist  New  Connection  Church,"  in 
affinity  with  the  New  Connection  Methodists  of  England ;  it 
reports  90  traveling  and  147  local  preachers,  about  9,000 
members,  a  theological  school,  and  a  weekly  paper.  The 
Primitive  Methodists,  from  England,  sustain  in  the  Province 
Circuits  and  a  weekly  press.  Methodism  has,  in  short,  become 
numerically  the  strongest  form  of  Protestantism  in  the  British 
North  American  Provinces. 

The  question  of  slavery  came  up,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the 
very  first  General  Conference,  and  was  found  to  be  irrepressible. 
The  early  "testimony"  of  Methodism  on  the  subject  was 
worthy  of  the  denomination ;  but,  yielding  to  the  exigencies  of 
later  times,  it  compromised  that  testimony,  and  was  compelled 
at  last  to  suffer  the  severest  retribution,  It  is  not  yet  time  for 
an  impartial  record  of  the  personal  and  party  responsibilities 
of  the  later  controversy,  nor  is  it  perhaps  desirable,  as,  provi- 
dentially, the  question  has  reached  its  final  solution,  and  the 
Church  may  indulge  the  hope,  however  yet  contingent,  that  by 
the  lapse  of  time  and  the  tranquilization  of  passion  its  old  and 
glorious  unity  may  be  restored,  and  its  combined  and  almost 
boundless  energies  put  forth  in  its  common  and  peaceful  work. 
The  effects  of  this  controversy  in  memorable  secessions  must, 
however,  be  noticed.  By  1834  the  contest  was  begun  in  good 
earnest,  by  the  "Appeal"  of  a  number  of  the  New  England 
preachers  and  the  "Counter  Appeal"  of  others.  The -New 
Hampshire  Conference  soon  after  passed  decidedly  antislavery 
resolutions.  The  refusal  of  the  bishop  to  put  these  resolutions 
to  vote  originated  a  new  question  on  "  Conference  rights,"  and 
the  Eastern  Conferences  were  soon  rife  with  both.  Mean- 
while "  Zion's  Herald,"  the  earliest  journal  of  the  denomina- 
tion, and  the  most  vigorous  in  all  progressive  measures,  be- 
came the  effective  organ  of  these  contests.  The  General  Con- 
ference had  attempted  repressive  measures,  which  only  pro- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    OHUEOH.  525 

voked  greater  energy  in  the  agitation.  At  the  session  of  1836 
delegates  were  formally  rebuked  for  participating  in  an  anti- 
slavery  meeting  at  Cincinnati,  the  place  of  the  session.  The 
Conference  condemned  by  resolutions  "  abolitionism,"  and  in 
its  pastoral  address  "  disowned  any  right  to  interfere  in  the 
political  relation  of  master  and  slave."  The  controversy  now 
swept  over  the  northern  Church,  and,  in  1843,  a  convention  was 
held  at  Utica,  N.  Y.,  for  the  organization  of  the  "  Wesleyan 
Methodist  Connection."  Some  of  the  leaders  of  the  antislavery 
movement  entered  heartily  into  the  new  organization,  but 
many  resolutely  remained  in  the  elder  Church  as  the  best  field 
for  the  prosecution  of  the  contest.  Good  and  heroic  men  were 
thus  divided,  and  in  some  instances  turned  their  weapons 
against  each  other.  Churches  were  rent,  and  strifes  spread 
over  most  of  the  Northern  States.  Questions  of  Church  polity, 
especially  that  of  lay  representation,  were  mixed  with  the  con- 
troversy, and  exasperated  it.  The  new  denomination  adopted 
lay  representation,  and  assumed  an  apparently  formidable  or- 
ganization. It  had  not  a  few  able  men,  and,  as  it  proposed 
freedom  and  Church  "  reform,"  it  bore  with  it  no  small  amount 
of  popular  sympathy.  The  advancement  of  the  parent  Church 
in  both  these  respects  has,  however,  reclaimed  from  it  much  of 
that  sympathy,  and  relieved  it  of  most  of  the  original  reasons 
of  its  organization.  Not  a  few,  therefore,  of  its  earliest  leaders 
and  most  zealous  supporters  have  returned  to  the  elder  denom- 
ination ;  and,  having  accomplished  its  mission,  the  "  Wesleyan 
Connection  "  appears  destined,  sooner  or  later,  to  be  absorbed 
in  other  Methodist  bodies.  It  still  reports,  however,  236  itin- 
erant and  164  local  preachers,  and  25,000  members.  It  has 
quite  generally  disappeared  in  the  New  England  States,  where 
it  had  its  earliest  sway. 

Meanwhile  the  great  controversy  went  on  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  till  it  eventuated  in  what  has  justly  been 
called  the  "  Great  Secession  "  of  1844,  by  which  nearly  all  the 
vast  territory  and  numerical  force  of  the  Southern  States  were 
rent  away.  At  the  preceding  session  the  old  usage  of  the 
Church,  denying  ordination  to  slaveholding  preachers,  and 
especially  keeping  the  episcopate  clear  of  the  charge  of  slave- 


526  HISTORY    OF    THE 

holding,  was  abandoned  by  a  resolution  that  "  mere  ownership 
in  slave  property  "  constitutes  no  legal  barrier  to  "  the  various 
grades  of  the  ministry."  This,  of  course,  threw  open  the  epis- 
copate itself  to  slaveholders.  At  the  next  session  it  was  found 
that  one  of  the  bishops  had  become  the  owner  of  slaves  by 
marriage.  He  was  required  to  relieve  himself  of  the  "  impedi- 
ment," or  to  be  suspended  from  his  functions.  The  Southern 
delegates  protested,  and  after  prolonged  and  remarkably  able 
debates  on  both  sides,  they  formally  announced  to  the  Confer- 
ence that  its  jurisdiction  over  their  Annual  Conferences  "  would 
be  inconsistent  with  the  success  of  the  Methodist  ministry  "  in 
their  States.  A  schism  seemed  now  inevitable,  and  the  Con- 
ference, to  relieve  as  much  as  possible  its  disastrous  effects, 
enacted  "  a  plan  of  separation,"  defining  boundaries,  a  division 
of  the  Church  property,  etc.,  to  take  effect  in  case  of  a  separate 
organization.  A  Southern  Methodist  Convention  was  held  at 
Louisville  in  May,  1845,  and  "  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,- 
South,"  was  there  begun.  In  the  next  year  its  first  General 
Conference  was  held  at  Petersburgh,  Ya.,  and  its  organization 
completed. 

Methodism  had  become  the  chief  religious  denomination  of 
the  Southern  States;  this  stupendous  rupture,  it  cannot  be 
doubted,  was  the  effective  beginning  of  the  great  national  rup- 
ture which  soon  after  startled  the  world  with  the  greatest  civil 
war  of  modern  history.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  has  published  no  statistics  since  the  Eebellion  broke 
out ;  it  has  doubtless  suffered  disastrously  by  the  war,  but  it 
reported  the  last  year  before  the  Eebellion  nearly  700,000  mem- 
bers, 2,600  itinerant  and  5,000  local  preachers.  It  had  a  Book 
Concern,  12  periodical  publications,  12  colleges,  and  77  acade- 
mies, with  8,000  students.  Its  Missionary  Society  sustained, 
at  home  and  abroad,  about  360  missionaries,  and  8  manual 
labor  schools,  with  nearly  500  pupils. 

These  successive  events  precipitated  the  "  abolition  contro- 
versy" in  the  Northern  Church.  It  soon  became  the  most 
energetic  antislavery  body  in  the  nation;  it  reattained  its 
original  antislavery  platform,  and,  in  1864,  its  General  Confer- 
ence inserted  in  its  fundamental  law  (its  "  General  Kules,")  an 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUEOH.  527 

absolute  interdiction  of  slaveholding.  It  contributed  more 
than  a  hundred  thousand  of  its  members  to  the  armies  of  the 
war  for  the  Union,  thinned  its  congregations,  and  disbanded 
many  of  its  Sunday-school  and  Bible  classes  by  these  patri- 
otic contributions.  Its  pulpits  resounded  with  enthusiastic 
pleas  for  the  Constitution.  Its  entire  denominational  press 
(the  most  extensive  in  the  land)  was,  without  one  excep- 
tion, fervently  and  continually  devoted  to  the  national  cause. 
The  national  flag  waved  from  its  spires  and  draped  its  pulpits, 
and  its  characteristic  enthusiasm  was  kindled  to  the  highest 
fervor  by  the  national  struggle.  Many  of  its  preachers  entered 
the  army  as  chaplains,  others  as  officers,  and  others  as  privates. 
Thousands  of  Methodist  martyrs  for  the  Union  sleep  under  the 
sod  of  southern  battle-fields.  In  fine,  Methodism,  as  the  chief 
religious  embodiment  of  the  common  people,  felt  that  its  des- 
tiny is  identical  with  that  of  the  country,  and  threw  its  utmost 
energy  into  the  great  struggle  for  the  national  life.  The  gov- 
ernment recognized  its  services,  and,  at  its  General  Conference 
of  1864,  President  Lincoln  addressed  it  an  emphatic  testi- 
monial, saying:  "Nobly  sustained  as  the  Government  has 
been  by  all  the  Churches,  I  would  utter  nothing  which  might 
in  the  least  appear  invidious  against  any.  Yet  without  this  it 
may  fairly  be  said  that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  not  less 
devoted  than  the  best,  is,  by  its  greater  numbers,  the  most  im- 
portant of  all.  It  is  no  fault  in  others  that  the  Methodist 
Church  sends  more  soldiers  to  the  field,  more  nurses  to  the 
hospitals,  and  more  prayers  to  heaven  than  any.  God  bless 
the  Methodist  Church !  bless  all  the  Churches !  and  blessed  be 
God,  who  in  this  our  great  trial  giveth  us  the  Churches ! " 

During  all  these  years  of  strife  and  war,  within  and  without, 
the  march  of  the  Church  was  almost  continuously  forward. 
These  tests  were,  indeed,  among  the  most  striking  demonstra- 
tions of  its  energy.  Estimated  by  decades  from  our  last  con- 
sidered date,  (1820,)  its  statistics  show  but  two  instances  of  de- 
clension :  one  by  the  secession  of  the  Church,  South,  the  other 
by  the  civil  war,  and  from  both  it  quickly  arose  with  surpris- 
ing buoyancy.  By  1830  it  had  476,153  members,  an  increase 
for  the  decade  of  216,263 ;  by  1840  it  had  801,784,  an  increase 


528  HISTORY   OF   THE 


of  325,631.  By  the  close  of  the  next  decade  it  had  lost  the 
whole  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  but  rallied  so  rap- 
idly as  to  be  able  to  report  689,682  members,  a  decrease  of  but 
112,102 ;  at  the  end  of  the  following  decade  (1860)  it  had  much 
more  than  recovered  all  the  numerical  force  which  it  had  lost 
by  the  division,  and  reported  994,447,  a  gain  for  the  decade  of 
304,765.  In  the  ensuing  half  decade  it  was  again  to  be  ravaged 
by  the  war,  especially  by  the  loss  of  its  "  Border  Societies," 
whole  Conferences  of  which  were  broken  to  pieces ;  it  reported 
therefore,  (in  1865,)  929,259,  a  decrease  of  65,188 ;  but  in  the 
ensuing  year  it  more  than  regained  all  this  loss,  and  reported 
more  than  a  million  (1,032,184)  members,  while  the  other 
Methodist  bodies  of  the  New  World  were  a  million  more. 
Such  vitality  has  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  Christendom. 
Meanwhile  its  ministry  had  proportionately  advanced.  Its 
traveling  preachers,  numbering  904  in  1820,  amounted,  in 
1830,  to  1,900;  in  1840,  to  3,697;  in  1850,  to  4,129;  in  1860, 
to  6,987 ;  and  in  1866,  to  7,576. 

Such  are  some  of  the  salient  events  in  the  proceedings 
of  the  quadrennial  Conferences,  and  in  the  general  history  of 
the  Church  through  these  later  years.  But,  as  much  if  not 
most,  of  the  proceedings  of  that  body,  and  of  the  general  activ- 
ity of  the  denomination,  related  during  these  times  to  those 
"benevolent  enterprises"  which  we  have  seen  incorporated 
into  its  practical  system,  we  turn  now  to  the  more  summary 
consideration  of  these  important  interests. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  529 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

AUXILIAKY    PLANS    AND    INSTITUTIONS;    LITERARY,    EDUCA- 
TIONAL,  MISSIONARY,  ETC. 

The  practical,  or  Disciplinary,  as  well  as  the  Theological, 
system  of  Methodism  has  been  defined  in  its  appropriate  place. 
But  a  Church  must,  in  this  age,  have  other,  not  to  say  extra- 
ecclesiastical,  means  of  labor  if  it  would  meet  the  ever-varying 
wants  of  the  world,  and  not  stagnate  and  die.  Methodism  has 
habitually  been  adding  such  auxiliaries  to  its  working  system. 
They  have  been  noted  in  their  due  time,  as  they  have,  one  after 
another,  sprung  up ;  but  their  fuller  consideration  has  been  re- 
served till  the  present  stage  of  our  narrative,  when  their  series — 
literary,  educational,  and  missionary — had  become  substantially 
complete.  They  afford  some  of  the  most  important  and  start- 
ling facts  of  the  history  of  the  Church. 

American  Methodism  from  its  organization,  and  even  before 
that  date,  appreciated  the  importance  of  the  Press.  The  ex- 
ample and  injunctions  of  Wesley  kept  the  denomination,  not 
only  in  England,  but  wherever  it  extended,  zealous  in  the  diffu- 
sion not  only  of  religious  literature,  but  of  u  useful  knowledge" 
in  general.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  system  of  "  cheap  pub- 
lication ; "  cheap  prices  sustained  by  large  sales.*  The  literary 
labors  of  Wesley  would  seem,  aside  from  all  his  other  services, 
to  be  sufficient  for  the  lives  of  half  a  score  of  men.  A  German 
historian  of  Methodism  classifies,  with  German  elaborateness, 
the  great  variety  of  his  literary  works,  as  Poetical,  Philological, 
Philosophical,  Historical,  and  Theological.  Though  he  proba- 
bly wrote  before  Wesley's  death,  he  states  that  many  of  these 

*  Lackington,  the  famous  London  publisher,  claimed  this  distinction ;  but  Wes. 
ley  preceded  him,  at  least  in  religious  literature,  and  Lackington,  who  was  a  Meth- 
odist, was  set  up  in  the  business  by  the  aid  of  Wesley's  "Fund,"  established  at 
City  Road  for  the  assistance  of  needy  business  men. 

34 


530  HISTORY   OF   THE 

writings,  after  ten  or  twenty  editions,  could  not  be  obtained 
without  difficulty,  and  tlie  whole  could  not  be  purchased  for  less 
than  ten  guineas,  notwithstanding  they  were  published  at  rates 
surprisingly  cheap.  A  catalogue  of  his  publications,  printed 
about  1756,  contains  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  eighty-one 
articles,  in  prose  and  verse,  English  and  Latin,  on  grammar, 
logic,  medicine,  music,  poetry,  theology,  and  philosophy.  Two 
thirds  of  these  publications  were  for  sale  at  less  than  one  shil- 
ling each,  and  more  than  one  fourth  at  a  penny.  They  were 
thus  brought  within  reach  of  the  poorest  of  his  people.  "  Sim- 
plify religion  and  every  part  of  learning,"  he  wrote  to  Benson, 
who  was  the  earliest  of  his  lay  preachers  addicted  to  literary 
labors.  To  all  his  itinerants  he  said,  "  See  that  every  society 
is  supplied  with  books,  some  of  which  ought  to  be  in  every 
house."  In  addition  to  his  collected  "  Works,"  (fourteen  octavo 
volumes  in  the  English  edition,  and  seven  in  the  American,)  his 
biblical  "  Notes"  and  abridgments  make  a  catalogue  of  one  hun- 
dred and  eighteen  prose  productions,  (a  single  one  of  which, 
"  The  Christian  Library,"  contains  fifty  volumes,)  forty-nine 
poetical  publications  by  himself  and  his  brother,  and  five  distinct 
works  on  music.  Not  content  with  books  and  tracts,  Wesley 
projected,  in  August,  1777,  the  Arminian  Magazine,  and  issued 
the  first  number  at  the  beginning  of  1778.  It  was  one  of  the 
first  four  religious  magazines  which  sprung  from  the  resuscitated 
religion  of  the  age,  and  which  began  this  species  of  periodical 
publications  in  the  Protestant  world.  It  is  now  the  oldest  relig- 
ious periodical.  It  may  be  questioned  whether  any  English 
writer  of  the  last  or  the  present  century  has  equaled  Wesley  in 
the  number  of  his  productions. 

American  Methodism  has  always  been  true  to  this  example 
of  English  Methodism,  and  in  fact  has  far  transcended  it.  Its 
"  Book  Concern  "  is  now  the  largest  religious  publishing  house 
in  the  Protestant  world. 

We  have  seen  the  beginnings  of  this  literary  agency  in  the 
printing  and  circulation  of  Wesley's  sermons  by  Kobert  Will- 
iams, one  of  the  earliest  lay  evangelists,  who,  according  to 
Lee's  history  of  the  Church,  "  spread  them  through  the  country, 
to  the  great  advantage  of  religion,  opening  the  way  for  the 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  531 

preachers  where  these  had  never  been  before."  But  as  early 
as  the  first  Conference  (1773)  this  individual  or  independent 
publishing  was  prohibited,  the  "consent  of  the  brethren" 
being  required,  because,  as  Lee  writes,  "it  now  became  neces- 
sary for  all  the  preachers  to  be  united  in  the  same  course,  so 
that  the  profits  ensuing  therefrom  might  be  divided  among 
them,  or  applied  to  some  charitable  purpose."  "  Be  active," 
commanded  the  Church  to  its  ministry  at  its  organization  of 
1784,  "  be  active  in  the  diffusion  of  Mr.  Wesley's  books. 
Every  <  assistant '  may  beg  money  of  the  rich  to  buy  '  books 
for  the  poor;'"  and  it  was  ordained  at  the  same  time  that 
"they  should  take  care  that  every  society  be  duly  supplied 
with  books."  The  Conferences  of  1787  made  further  provis- 
ions for  the  purpose,  and  "from  this  time,"  says  Lee,  "we 
began  to  publish  more  of  our  own  books  than  ever  before,  and 
the  principal  part  of  the  business  was  carried  on  in  New 
York."  No  publisher  or  "  Book  Agent "  was  yet  named, 
however ;  but,  two  years  later,  we  find  Philip  Cox  and  John 
Dickins  designated  to  that  office  in  the  Minutes.  The  former 
acted  as  a  sort  of  colporteur  at  large  for  three  years,  the  first 
American  example  of  that  useful  office,  and  died  in  it,  "  after 
circulating,"  says  his  obituary  in  the  Minutes,  "  many  hundred 
books  of  religious  instruction."  Dickins,  the  only  Methodist 
preacher  in  Philadelphia  in  1789,  began  there,  at  that  time, 
the  "Methodist  Book  Concern,"  in  addition  to  his  pastoral 
labors.  The  only  capital  of  the  Concern  was  about  six  hun- 
dred dollars,  lent  to  it  by  Dickins  himself.  The  first  volume 
issued  by  him  was  the  "Christian  Pattern,"  Wesley's  trans- 
lation of  Kempis's  celebrated  "Imitatione."  The  Methodist 
Discipline,  the  Hymn  Book,  Wesley's  Primitive  Physic,  and 
reprints  of  the  first  volume  of  the  Arminian  Magazine,  and 
Baxter's  Saint's  Eest,  followed.  In  1790  portions  of  Fletcher's 
"Checks"  were  reprinted.  In  1797  a  "Book  Committee" 
was  appointed,  to  whom  all  books  were  to  be  submitted  before 
their  publication.  In  1804  the  Concern  was  removed  from 
Philadelphia  to  the  city  of  New*  York.  As  early  as  1796  the 
General  Conference  ordered  the  publication  of  a  "  Methodist 
Magazine,"  in  imitation  of  Wesley's  periodical ;  it  was  not  sue- 


532  HISTORY   OF   THE 

cessfully  attempted  till  1818.  It  still  prosperously  continues, 
under  the  title  of  the  Methodist  Quarterly  Review.  Western 
Methodism  had,  however,  anticipated  it  by  the  publication  of 
Beauchamp's  "Christian  Monitor,"  at  Chilicothe,  Ohio,  in 
1815.  In  1824  the  Concern  secured  premises  of  its  own  on 
Crosby-street,  with  presses,  bindery,  etc.  In  1823  the 
"  Youth's  Instructor,"  a  monthly  work,  was  begun.  The  same 
spirit  of  enterprise  led  to  the  publication  of  the  Christian  Ad- 
vocate and  Journal,  which  appeared,  for  the  first  time,  on  the 
ninth  of  September,  1826.  But  New  England  preceded  the 
rest  of  the  Church  in  providing  for  this  want ;  in  1815  a  publi- 
cation was  commenced,  entitled,  "  The  New  England*  Mission- 
ary Magazine."  It  was  edited  by  Martin  Ruter,  and  printed 
at  Concord,  N".  H.,  by  Isaac  Hill;  but  it  ceased  after  four 
quarterly  numbers  had  been  issued.  In  1821  the  New  En- 
gland Conference  formed  an  association,  styled  the  "  Society  for 
Giving  and  Receiving  Religious  Intelligence."  This  gave  rise 
to  Zion's  Herald,  printed  by  Moore  and  Prouse,  under  the 
direction  of  the  committee  of  the  society,  of  which  Elijah  Hed- 
ding  was  president.  The  first  number  was  issued  January  9, 
1823,  on  a  small  royal  sheet,  the  pages  measuring  only  nine  by 
sixteen  inches.  Such  was  the  origin  of  the  first  weekly  publi- 
cation of  Methodism  in  the  world,  a  paper  which  has  had  an 
unsurpassed  power  on  the  great  questions  and  crises  of  the 
Church. 

The  success  of  the  Advocate  was  remarkable.  "  In  a  very 
short  time,"  writes  Bangs,  one  of  its  original  publishers,  "  its 
number  of  subscribers  far  exceeded  every  other  paper  pub- 
lished in  the  United  States,  being  about  twenty-five  thousand. 
It  soon  increased  to  thirty  thousand,  and  was  probably  read  by 
more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  persons,  young 
and  old."  It  should  be  noticed  also  that,  at  the  earnest  re- 
quest of  Methodists  west  of  the  mountains,  the  General  Con- 
ference of  1820  authorized  the  establishment  of  a  branch  of 
the  Book  Concern  in  Cincinnati,  under  Martin  Ruter,  a  pre- 
cedent which  led  to  secondary  branches  in  various  parts  of  the 
country.  The  rapid  increase  of  the  business  soon  made  it  neces- 
sary to  enlarge  its  buildings  in  New  York.    Accordingly  all  the 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  533 

vacant  ground  about  its  site  in  Crosby-street  was  occupied. 
But  even  these  additions  were  found  insufficient  to  accommo- 
date the  several  departments  of  labor,  so  as  to  furnish  the  sup- 
ply of  books,  now  in  constantly  increasing  demand.  Five  lots 
were  therefore  purchased  on  Mulberry-street,  between  Broome 
and  Spring  streets,  and  one  building  erected  in  the  rear  for  a 
printing  office  and  bindery,  and  another  of  larger  dimensions 
projected.  In  the  month  of  September,  1833,  the  entire  estab- 
lishment was  removed  into  the  new  buildings.  In  these  com- 
modious rooms,  with  efficient  agents  and  editors  at  work,  every 
thing  seemed  to  be  going  on  prosperously,  when  suddenly  in 
1836  the  entire  property  was  consumed  by  lire  at  night.  The 
Church  thus  lost  not  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars.  The  buildings,  all  the  printing  and  binding  materials, 
a  vast  quantity  of  books,  bound  and  in  sheets,  a  valuable 
library  which  the  editor  had  been  collecting  for  years,  were  in. 
a  few  hours  destroyed.  Fortunately  the  "  Concern  "  was  not 
in  debt,  and  by  hiring  an  office  temporarily,  and  employing 
outside  printers,  the  agents  soon  resumed  their  business.  The 
smaller  works  were  put  to  press,  and  "  the  Church's  herald  of 
the  news,  the  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  soon  took  its 
flight  again  (though  the  first  number  after  the  fire  had  its 
wings  much  shortened)  through  the  symbolical  heavens,  carry- 
ing the  tidings  of  our  loss,  and  of  the  liberal  and  steady  efforts 
which  were  making  to  reinvigorate  the  paralyzed  Concern." 

At  the  General  Conference  of  1836  the  plan  of  a  new  build- 
ing was  submitted  and  approved.  It  went  up  with  all  con- 
venient dispatch,  in  a  much  better  style,  more  durable,  and 
safer  against  fire,  than  the  former  structure.  The  front  edifice 
is  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  feet  in  length,  and  thirty  in 
breadth,  four  stories  high  above  the  basement,  with  offices  for 
the  agents,  editors,  clerks,  a  bookstore,  printing  office,  commit- 
tee rooms,  etc.  The  building  in  the  rear  is  sixty-five  feet  in 
length,  thirty  in  breadth,  and  four  stories  high,  with  a  wing 
connecting  it  with  the  front  edifice,  and  is  chiefly  used  as  a  de- 
pository, bindery,  etc.     Large  additions  have  since  been  made. 

In  our  day  (1866)  the  Methodist  Book  Concern,  aside  from 
that  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,   South,  which  was 


534  HISTORY    OF   THE 

founded  by  a  division  of  its  funds,  comprises  two  branches', 
eastern  and  western,  and  seven  depositories,  with  an  aggregate 
capital  t  of  more  than  $950,000.  Four  "  Book  Agents,"  ap- 
pointed by  the  General  Conference,  manage  its  business.  It 
has  twelve  editors  of  its  periodicals,  nearly  five  hundred  clerks 
and  operatives,  and  between  twenty  and  thirty  cylinder  and 
power  presses  constantly  in  operation.  It  publishes  about  five 
hundred  "  General  Catalogue  "  bound  books,  besides  many  in 
the  German  and  other  languages,  and  about  fifteen  hundred 
Sunday-school  volumes.  A  Tract  Society  is  one  of  its  adjuncts, 
and  its  tract  publications  number  about  nine  hundred  in  various 
tongues.  Its  periodicals  are  a  mighty  agency,  including  one 
Quarterly  Eeview,  four  monthlies,  (one  of  commanding  circu- 
lation, for  females,  "The  Ladies'  Kepository")  one  semi- 
monthly, and  nine  weeklies,  with  an  aggregate  circulation  of 
over  one  million  of  copies  per  month.  Its  Quarterly  and  some 
of  its  weeklies  have  a  larger  circulation  than  any  other  period- 
icals of  the  same  class  in  the  nation,  probably  in  the  world. 

The  influence  of  this  great  establishment,  in  the  diffusion 
of  popular  literature  and  the  creation  of  a  taste  for  reading 
among  the  great  masses  of  the  denomination,  has  been  incal- 
culable. It  has  scattered  periodicals  and  books  all  over  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi.  Its  sales  in  that  great  domain,  in 
the  quadrennial  period  ending  with  January  31, 1864,  amounted 
to  about  $1,200,000.  If  Methodism  had  made  no  other  con- 
tribution to  the  progress  of  knowledge  and  civilization  in  the 
New  World  than  that  of  this  powerful  institution,  this  alone 
would  suffice  to  vindicate  its  claim  to  the  respect  of  the  en- 
lightened world.  Its  ministry  has  often  been  falsely  dispar- 
aged as  unfavorable  to  knowledge ;  but  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  its  ministry  founded  this  stupendous  means  of  pop- 
ular intelligence,  and  has  continued  to  work  it  with  increasing 
success  up  to  the  present  time.  They  have  been  its  sales- 
men, and  have  scattered  its  publications  over  their  Circuits. 
Wesley  enjoined  this  service,  as  we  have  seen,  upon  them  in 
their  Discipline.  "  Carry  books  with  you  on  every  round,"  he 
said  ;  "  leave  no  stone  unturned  in  this  work  ;  "  and  thus  have 
they  spread  knowledge  in  their  courses  over  the  whole  land, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  535 

and  built  up  their  unparalleled  "  Book  Concern."  There  has 
never  been  an  instance  of  defalcation  on  the  part  of  its 
"  agents ; "  it  has  never  failed  in  any  of  the  financial  revul- 
sions of  the  country  ;  and  it  is  now  able,  by  its  large  capital, 
to  meet  any  new  literary  necessity  of  the  denomination. 
Among  its  agents  and  editors  have  been  some  of  the  ablest 
men  of  the  Church.  Ten  of  them  have  been  called  from  its 
service  to  the  episcopate  in  the  northern  Church  alone. 

The  Sunday-school  system  of  the  Church  has  been  closely 
allied  to  its  Book  Concern.  Methodism  shared  in  the  origin 
of  the  institution  in  England,  and  first  incorporated  it  in  the 
Church.  Francis  Asbury  established  the  first  school  of  the 
kind  in  the  New  World  in  1786,  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Cren- 
shaw, in  Hanover  County,  Ya. ;  and  this  first  attempt  prefig- 
ured one  of  the  greatest  later  advantages  of  the  institution  by 
giving  a  useful  preacher  to  the  denomination.  In  1790  the 
first  recognition  of  Sunday-schools  by  an  American  Church 
was  made  by  the  vote  of  the  Methodist  Conferences,  ordering 
their  formation  throughout  the  Church,  and  also  the  compila- 
tion of  a  book  for  them.  Methodism  for  many  years  made  no 
provision  for  the  general  organization  or  affiliation  of  its  Sun- 
day-schools. Its  Book  Concern  issued  some  volumes  suitable 
for  their  libraries,  chiefly  by  the  labors  of  John  P.  Durbin, 
who  prepared  its  first  library  volume,  and  its  first  Question 
Book ;  but  no  adequate,  no  systematic  attention  was  given  to 
this  sort  of  literature.  It  was  obvious,  on  a  moment's  reflec- 
tion, that  an  almost  illimitable  field  for  the  enlargement  of 
the  business  of  the  Concern,  and  the  diffusion  of  useful  knowl- 
edge, was  at  its  command  in  this  direction.  Accordingly  the 
"  Sunday-School  Union "  was  organized  on  the  second  of 
April,  1827.  Bangs  says  that  "  the  measure  was  hailed  with 
grateful  delight  by  our  friends  and  brethren  throughout  the 
country.  It  received  the  sanction  of  the  several  annual  Con- 
ferences, which  recommended  the  people  of  their  charge  to 
form  auxiliaries  in  every  circuit  and  station,  and  send  to  the 
general  depository  in  New  York  for  their  books ;  and  such 
were  the  zeal  and  unanimity  with  which  they  entered  into  this 
work,  that  at  the  first  annual  meeting  of  the  society  there 


536  HISTORY    OF   THE 

were  reported  251  auxiliaries,  1,025  schools,  2,048  superintend- 
ents, 10,290  teachers,  and  63,240  scholars,  besides  above  2,000 
managers  and  visitors.  Never,  therefore,  did  an  institution  go 
into  operation  under  more  favorable  circumstances,  or  was 
hailed  with  a  more  universal  joy,  than  the  Sunday-School 
Union  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church."  This  great  suc- 
cess, however,  could  not  save  it  from  the  misfortunes  of  bad 
management.  Under  "an  injudicious  attempt,"  continues 
Bangs,  many  years  later,  "  to  amalgamate  the  Bible,  Tract, 
and  Sunday-School  Societies  together,  by  which  the  business 
of  these  several  societies  might  be  transacted  by  one  board  of 
management,"  and  by  other  causes,  it  declined,  if  indeed  it  did 
not  fail,  until  resuscitated  by  the  zeal  of  some  New  York 
Methodists,  and  by  an  act  of  the  General  Conference  of  1840. 
It  passed  through  modifications  till  it  assumed  its  present 
effective  form  of  organization,  and  grew  into  colossal  propor- 
tions under  the  labors  of  its  indefatigable  secretaries,  Drs. 
Kidder  and  Wise.  It  now  (1866)  has  (aside  from  its  offspring 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  13,400  schools, 
more  than  150,000  teachers  and  officers,  and  near  918,000 
scholars,  about  19,000  of  whom  are  reported  as  converted  dur- 
ing the  last  year.  There  are  in  the  libraries  of  these  schools 
more  than  2,529,000  volumes.  They  are  supported  at  an  an- 
nual expense  of  more  than  $216,000,  besides  nearly  $18,000 
given  to  the  Union  for  the  assistance  of  poor  schools.  There 
are  circulated  among  them,  semi-monthly,  nearly  260,000 
"  Sunday-School  Advocates,"  the  juvenile  periodical  of  the 
Union.  The  numbers  of  conversions  among  pupils  of  the 
schools,  as  reported  for  the  last  eighteen  years,  amount  to 
more  than  285,000,  showing  that  much  of  the  extraordinary 
growth  of  the  Church  is  attributable  to  this  mighty  agency. 
The  Union  has  four  periodicals  for  teachers  and  scholars,  two 
in  English  and  two  in  German,  and  their  aggregate  circula- 
tion is  nearly  300,000  per  number.  Its  catalogue  of  Sunday- 
school  books  comprises  more  than  2,300  different  works,  of 
which  more  than  a  million  copies  are  issued  annually.  Includ- 
ing other  issues,  it  has  nearly  2,500  publications  adapted  to 
the  use  of  its  schools.     In  fine,  few  if  any  institutions  of 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  537 

American  Methodism  wield  a  mightier  power  than  its  Sunday- 
School  Union.  These  figures,  however,  show  but  partially 
the  Sunday-school  enterprise  of  American  Methodism,  as  they 
do  not  include  those  of  its  several  branches,  which  broke  from 
the  parent  Church.     These  will  hereafter  be  given. 

We  have  already  had  frequent  intimations  in  these  pages  of 
the  interest  of  Methodism  for  education.  The  founders  of  the 
denomination  in  England  were  classically  educated  men,  and 
it  had  its  birth  in  a  university.  Wesley,  in  the  very  year 
which  is  recognized  as  its  epoch,  (1739,)  began  its  noted 
"Kingswood  School,"  and  at  his  first  Conference  (1744)  pro- 
posed a  theological  school,  a  "  seminary  for  laborers,"  or  lay 
preachers,  a  project  which  was  at  last  realized  by  the  pres- 
ent two  f; Theological  Institutions"  of  English  Methodism. 
American  Methodism  early  shared  this  interest  of  the  parent 
body  in  education.  Dickins  had  proposed,  in  1780,  an 
academic  institution  for  the  denomination.  In  the  year  of 
the  organization  of  the  Church  (1784)  Coke  and  Asbury  pro- 
jected the  Cokesbury  College,  and  laid  its  foundations  the 
next  year  at  Abingdon,  Md.  In  1787  Asbury  consecrated  and 
opened  it  with  public  ceremonies.  In  1795  it  was  destroyed 
by  fire ;  but  a  second  edifice  was  soon  after  provided  in  Balti- 
more ;  this,  however,  shared  the  fate  of  its  predecessor  in  pre- 
cisely one  year.  It  has  been  supposed  that  these  disasters  not 
only  discouraged  Asbury,  but  led  him  fallaciously  to  infer  that 
Providence  designed  not  the  denomination  to  devote  its  energy 
to  education.  It  was  far  otherwise,  however,  with  that  great 
man.  He  did  not  believe  that  collegiate  or  pretentious  insti- 
tutions of  learning  should  be  attempted  by  the  Church  while 
yet  in  its  infancy,  but  he  never  abandoned  the  design  of 
secondary  or  more  practically-adapted  schools.  He  formed, 
indeed,  a  grand  scheme  for  the  establishment  of  academies  all 
over  the  territory  of  the  denomination,  one  for  each  "  District," 
a  District  then  being  a  Conference. 

As  far  south  as  Georgia  contributions  in  land  and  tobacco 
were  received  for  the  founding  of  a  college  there  in  1789  ;  and 
in  the  yet  frontier  settlements  of  Redstone,  Pa.,  and  Ken- 
tucky, seminaries  were  attempted  under  Asbury's  auspices. 


538  HISTORY    OF   THE 

In  1789  overtures  for  an  academy  in  Kentucky  were  approved 
by  him  and  the  Conferences,  and  the  next  year  the  Western 
Conference  began  subscriptions  for  it.  At  Bethel,  Ky.,  an 
edifice  and  organization  were  really  established,  but  financially 
broke  down  at  last,  prostrating  the  health  and  intellect  of 
Poythress  by  its  fall.  At  Uniontown,  Western  Pennsylvania, 
an  academy  was  started  in  1794  or  1795  by  Asbury's  influence, 
and  survived  some  few  years,  educating  Thomas  Bell,  Samuel 
Parker,  and  other  eminent  men.  Thus  in  its  primitive  strug- 
gles of  the  last  century  did  the  Church  show  its  appreciation 
of  education.  In  1792  Asbury  was  ambitious  to  place  "  two 
thousand  children  under  the  best  plan  of  education  ever  known 
in  this  country." 

Before  the  close  of  the  last  century  Hope  Hull  established 
an  academy  in  Wilkes  County,  Ga.,  and  George,  M'Henry, 
and  Valentine  Cook  personally  devoted  themselves  at  intervals 
to  the  work  of  education.  In  1818  Dr.  Samuel  K.  Jennings 
and  other  Methodists  attempted  a  college  in  Baltimore,  but 
this  also  failed.  No  failures,  however,  no  discouragement, 
could  obliterate  from  the  mind  of  the  denomination  the  con- 
viction of  its  responsibility  for  the  education  of  the  increasing 
masses  of  its  people.  In  1820  the  General  Conference  recom- 
mended that  all  the  annual  Conferences  should  establish  semi- 
naries within  their  boundaries,  thus  proposing  to  supply  the 
whole  republic  with  such  schools,  though  with  considerable 
territorial  intervals.  This  demonstration  of  interest  for  educa- 
tion in  the  supreme  body  of  the  Church  was  prompted  by  the 
spontaneous  enterprise  of  the  ministry  and  the  people,  who, 
three  years  before,  had,  chiefly  under  the  guidance  of  Martin 
Eiiter,  started  an  institution  in  New  England,  (at  New  Market, 
N.  H.,)  still  distinguished,  in  its  later  location,  at  Wilbraham, 
Mass.;  and  in  1819  another,  chiefly  under  the  guidance  of 
Nathan  Bangs,  in  New  York  city,  afterward  transferred  to 
White  Plains,  N.  Y.  The  impulse  thus  given  not  only  pro- 
duced numerous  academies,  but  led,  in  1823,  to  the  beginning 
of  Augusta  College,  Ky.,  whose  edifice  was  erected  in  1825, 
and  commenced  the  series  of  modern  collegiate  institutions 
under  the  patronage  of  the  denomination,  so  that  by  the  Gen- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  539 

eral  Conference  of  1832,  says  the  biographer  of  Hedding,  "  the 
Wesley  an  University  had  been  established  at  Middletown,  * 
Conn.,  and  Dr.  Wilbur  Fisk,  of  the  New  England  Conference, 
was  at  its  head,  and  John  M.  Smith,  of  the  New  York  Con- 
ference, one  of  the  professors.  Madison  College,  now  extinct, 
but  whose  place  has  since  been  supplied  by  Alleghany  Col- 
lege, had  gone  into  successful  operation  in  Western  Penn- 
sylvania; J.  H.  Fielding  had  succeeded  H.  B.  Bascom  as 
president,  and  H.  J.  Clark  was  one  of  the  professors ;  both 
were  members  of  the  Pittsburgh  Conference.  Augusta  Col- 
lege had  been  established  under  the  patronage  of  the  Ken- 
tucky and  Ohio  Conferences;  Martin  Euter  was  president, 
and  H.  B.  Bascom,  J.  S.  Tomlinson,  J.  P.  Durbin,  and  Burr 
H.  M'Cown,  were  professors;  all  of  them  members  of  the 
Kentucky  Conference  except  J.  P.  Durbin,  who  belonged  to 
the  Ohio.  In  the  Southwest,  Lagrange  College  had  been 
established;  Kobert  Paine  was  president,  and  E.  D.  Simms 
one  of  the  professors.  In  Virginia,  Kandolph  Macon  College 
had  been  established,  and  M.  P.  Parks,  of  the  Virginia  Con- 
ference, was  one  of  its  professors,  and  Stephen  Olin  was  soon 
after  placed  at  its  head.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  no  less 
than  five  colleges  had  sprung  into  existence  in  an  incredibly 
short  time,  and  were  already  in  successful  operation  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Church.  Several  Conference  seminaries 
also  had  been  established ;  such  were  the  Cazenovia  Seminary, 
the  Maine  Wesleyan  Seminary,  Wilbraham  Academy,  Gen- 
esee Wesleyan  Seminary,  Shelbyville  Female  Academy,  and 
others,  which  were  in  successful  operation  in  different  parts  of 
the  Church." 

The  Church  could  not  pause  here.  Wesley,  as  we  have 
seen,  had  proposed  ministerial  education  at  his  very  first  Con- 
ference, and  the  British  Methodists  had  embodied  the  proposi- 
tion in  two  imposing  "theological  institutions."  The  New 
England  Methodists  agitated  the  question  in  their  Church 
periodical,  and  in  1839  a  convention  was  called,  in  Boston,  to 
provide  such  an  institution.  It  was  founded  with  the  title  of 
the  Biblical  Institute ;  it  struggled  through  many  adversities, 
was  at  first  connected  with  the  Wesleyan  University,  Middle- 


540  HISTORY   OF  THE 

town,  Conn. j  then  with  the  Methodist  Seminary,  at  Newbury, 
Yt.,  but  at  last  was  located,  in  Concord,  "N.  H.,  where  it  ex- 
erted no  inconsiderable  influence  upon  the  character  of  the 
New  England  Methodist  ministry.  It  has  been  removed  to 
the  vicinity  of  Boston.  In  1845  John  Dempster,  of  New  York 
city,  became  its  professor  of  theology.  He  threw  his  remark- 
able energy  into  the  cause  of  ministerial  education  throughout 
the  denomination,  and  not  only  forced  along  the  New  England 
institution  against  formidable  discouragements,  but  became  a 
leading  founder  of  the  northwestern  seminary  at  Evanston, 
111.,  where  a  Chicago  Methodist  lady,  by  the  gift  of  property 
amounting  to  $300,000,  gave  endowment  and  her  name  to  the 
Garrett  Biblical  Institute. 

Thus  boarding  academies,  colleges,  and  theological  semin- 
aries have  rapidly  grown  up  in  the  denomination,  till  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  alone  now  (1866)  reports  no  less 
than  25  colleges,  (including  theological  schools,)  having  158 
instructors,  5,345  students,  about  four  millions  of  dollars  in 
endowments  and  other  property,  and  105,531  volumes  in  their 
libraries.  It  reports  also  77  academies,  with  556  instructors 
and  17,761  students,  10,462  of  whom  are  females,  making  an 
aggregate  of  102  institutions,  with  714  instructors  and  23,106 
students.  The  southern  division  of  the  denomination  reported 
before  the  Rebellion  12  colleges  and  77  academies,  with  8,000 
students,  making  an  aggregate  for  the  two  bodies  of  191  insti- 
tutions and  31,106  students. 

The  moral  and  social  influence  of  such  a  series  of  educa- 
tional provisions,  reaching  from  the  year  of  the  organization 
of  the  Church  to  our  own  day,  must  be  incalculable;  and, 
could  it  point  the  world  to  no  other  monuments  of  its  useful- 
ness, these  would  suffice  to  establish  its  claims  as  one  of  the 
effective  means  of  the  intellectual  and  moral  progress  of  the 
country. 

American  Methodism  could  not  long  fail  to  imitate  the  ex- 
ample of  British  Methodism  in  the  "  Missionary  cause,"  for  the 
parent  Church  had  early  become  pre-eminent  before  the  Chris- 
tian world  in  this  sublime  enterprise.  The  idea  of  religious 
missions  is  as  old  as  Christianity,  and  has  been  exemplified  by 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUKCH.  541 

the  Papal  Church  through  much  of  its  history,  and  in  the  ends 
of  the  earth.  The  Moravians  early  embodied  it  in  their  sys- 
tem. In  the  Protestantism  of  England  it  had  but  feeble  sway 
till  the  epoch  of  Methodism.  That  grand  form  of  it  which 
now  characterizes  English  Protestantism  in  both  hemispheres, 
and  which  proposes  the  evangelization  of  the  whole  race,  ap- 
peared in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Societies 
for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  had  previously  existed  in 
Great  Britain,  but  they  were  provided  chiefly,  if  not  exclu- 
sively, for  the  Christianization  of  countries  which,  by  reason  of 
their  political  dependence  upon  England,  were  deemed  to  have 
special  claims  on  British  Christianity — the  inhabitants  of  India 
and  the  Indians  of  North  America.  •  An  historian  of  missions, 
writing  in  1844,  says :  "  It  was  not  until  almost  within  the 
last  fifty  years  that  the  efforts  of  the  religious  bodies  by  whom 
Christian  missions  are  now  most  vigorously  supported  were 
commenced."  Methodism  was  essentially  a  missionary  move- 
ment, domestic  and  foreign.  It  initiated  not  only  the  spirit, 
but  the  practical  plans  of  modern  English  missions.  Bishop 
Coke  so  represented  the  enterprise  in  his  own  person  for  many 
years  as  to  supersede  the  necessity  of  any  more  formal  organ- 
ization of  it,  but  it  was  none  the  less  real  and  energetic.  The 
historian  just  cited  says :  "  The  "Wesleyan  Missionary  Society 
was  formed  in  1817,  but  the  first  Wesleyan  missionaries  who 
went  out,  under  the  superintendence  of  Coke,  entered  the 
British  colonies  in  1786.  The  Baptist  Missionary  Society  was 
established  in  1792,  the  London  Missionary  Society  in  1795, 
and  the  Edinburgh  or  Scottish  and  the  Glasgow  Missionary 
Societies  in  1796.  The  subject  also  engaged  the  attention  of 
many  pious  persons  belonging  to  the  Established  Church,  be- 
sides those  connected  with  the  London  Missionary  Society,  and 
by  members  of  that  communion  the  Church  Missionary  Society 
was  organized,  in  the  first  year  of  the  present  century."  The 
London  Missionary  Society,  embracing  most  Dissenting  bodies 
of  England,  arose  under  the  influence  of  Calvinistic  Method- 
ism, and  the  Church  Missionary  Society  sprang  from  the 
evangelical  Low  Church  party  which  Methodism,  Calvin- 
istic and  Arminian,  had  resuscitated  in  the  Establishment, 


54:2  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Yenn,  the  son  of  the  Methodist  Churchman  Venn,  being  its 
projector. 

Though  Coke  represented  the  Arminian-Methodist  Mission 
interest,  as  its  founder,  secretary,  treasurer,  and  collector,  it 
really  took  a  distinct  form  some  six  years  before  the  formation 
of  the  first  of  the  above-named  societies.  Coke  spent  more 
than  a  year  in  bringing  the  negro  missions  before  the  English 
people,  immediately  after  his  second  visit  to  the  West  Indies. 
In  1786  a  formal  address  was  issued  to  the  public  in  behalf  of 
a  comprehensive  scheme  of  Methodist  missions.  It  was  en- 
titled "An  Address  to  the  Pious  and  Benevolent,  proposing 
an  Annual  Subscription  for  the  Support  of  Missionaries  in  the 
Highlands  and  adjacent  Islands  of  Scotland,  the  Isles  of  Jer- 
sey, Guernsey,  and  Newfoundland,  the  West  Indies,  and  the 
Provinces  of  Nova  Scotia  and  Quebec.  By  Thomas  Coke, 
LL.D.  1786."  It  speaks  of  "  a  mission  intended  to  be  estab- 
lished in  the  British  dominions  in  Asia,"  but  which  was  post- 
poned till  these  more  inviting  fields  should  be  occupied.  This 
scheme  was  called  in  the  address  an  "  Institution ; "  it  was 
really  such ;  though  not  called  a  society,  it  was  one  in  all  es- 
sential respects ;  and  if  the  fact  that  it  was  not  an  extra-ecclesi- 
astical plan,  but  a  part  of  the  system  of  Methodism,  should 
detract  from  its  claim  of  precedence  in  respect  to  later  institu- 
tions of  the  kind,  that  consideration  would  equally  detract 
from  the  Moravian  missions,  which  were  conducted  in  a  like 
manner.  The  address  filled  several  pages,  and  was  prefaced 
by  a  letter  from  Wesley  indorsing  the  whole  plan.  The  next 
year  (1787)  the  Wesleyan  Missions  bore  the  distinctive  title  of 
"  Missions  established  by  the  Methodist  Society."  At  the  last 
Conference  attended  by  Wesley  (1790)  a  committee  of  nine 
preachers,  of  which  Coke  was  chairman,  was  appointed  to  take 
charge  of  this  new  interest.  Coke  continued  to  conduct  its 
chief  business  ;  but  the  committee  were  his  standing  counsel, 
and  formed,  in  fact,  a  Mission  Board  of  Managers  two  years 
before  the  organization  of  the  first  of  British  Missionary  Soci- 
eties. Collections  had  been  taken  in  many  of  the  Circuits  for 
the  Institution,  and  in  1793  the  Conference  formally  ordered  a 
general  collection  for  it." 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  543 

In  this  manner  did  Methodism  early  prompt  the  British 
Churches,  and  call  forth  the  energies  of  the  British  people,  in 
plans  of  religions  benevolence  for  the  whole  world.  Its  pre- 
vious missions  in  Scotland,  Wales,  Ireland,  and  the  Channel 
Islands  did  much  for  the  reformation  of  the  domestic  popula- 
tion. Besides  its  efforts  in  1786  in  the  West  Indies,  it  began 
its  evangelical  labors  in  France  as  early  as  1791,  and  its  great 
schemes  in  Africa  in  1811 ;  in  Asia  in  1814 ;  in  Australasia  in 
1815 ;  in  Polynesia  in  1822 ;  until,  from  the  first  call  of  Wes- 
ley for  American  evangelists,  in  the  Conference  of  1769,  down 
to  our  day,  we  see  the  grand  enterprise  reaching  to  the  shores 
of  Sweden,  to  Germany,  France,  and  the  Upper  Alps  ;  to  Gib- 
raltar and  Malta  ;  to  the  banks  of  the  Gambia,  to  Sierra  Leone, 
and  to  the  Gold  Coast ;  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  ;  to  Ceylon, 
to  India,  and  to  China;  to  the  Colonists  and  aboriginal  tribes 
of  Australia;  to  New  Zealand,  and  the  Friendly  and  Fiji 
Islands  ;  to  the  islands  of  the  Western  as  well  as  of  the  Southern 
Hemisphere ;  and  from  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  to  Puget's 
Sound.  From  1803  to  the  present  time  Wesley  an  Methodism 
has  contributed  more  than  twenty  millions  of  dollars  for  foreign 
evangelization.  In  England  the  "  Church  Missionary  Society" 
alone  exceeds  its  annual  collections  for  the  foreign  field ;  but 
the  Wesleyan  Society  enrolls  more  communicants  in  its  Mission 
Churches  than  all  other  British  missionary  societies  combined. 
The  historian  of  religion  during  the  last  and  present  centuries 
would  find  it  difficult  to  point  to  a  more  magnificent  monu- 
ment of  Christianity. 

Coke,  the  first  Jnshop  of  American  Methodism,  was  to  the 
end  of  his  life  the  representative  character  of  Methodist  Mis- 
sions. In  his  old  age  he  offered  himself,  as  we  have  seen,  to 
the  British  Conference  as  a  missionary  to  the  East  Indies.  His 
death  on  the  Indian  Ocean  struck  not  only  a  knell  through  the 
Church,  but  a  summons  for  it  to  rise  universally  and  march 
around  the  world.  He  had  long  entertained  the  idea  of  univer- 
sal evangelization  as  the  exponent  characteristic  of  the  Meth- 
odist movement.  The  influence  of  the  movement  on  English 
Protestantism  had  tended  to  such  a  result,  for  in  both  England 
and  America  nearlv  all  denominations  had  felt  the  power  of 


544  HISTORY   OF    TIIE 

the  great  ^revival  not  only  during  the  days  of  Whitefield  and 
Wesley,  but  ever  since.  Anglo-Saxon  Christianity,  in  both 
hemispheres,  had  been  quickened  into  new  life,  and  had  ex- 
perienced a  change  amounting  to  a  moral  revolution.  The 
magnificent  apostolic  idea  of  evangelization  in  all  the  earth, 
and  till  all  the  earth  should  be  Christianized,  had  not  only 
been  restored,  as  a  practical  conviction,  but  had  become  per- 
vasive and  dominant  in  the  consciousness  of  the  Churches, 
and  was  manifestly  thenceforward  to  shape  the  religious  his- 
tory of  the  Protestant  world.  The  great  fermentation  of  the 
mind  of  the  civilized  nations — the  resurrection,  as  it  may  be 
called,  of  popular  thought  and  power — contemporaneous  in 
the  civil  and  religious  worlds,  in  the  former  by  the  American 
and  French  Revolutions,  in  the  latter  by  the  Methodist 
movement — seemed  to  presage  a  new  history  of  the  human 
race.  And  history  is  compelled  to  record,  with  the  frank- 
est admission  of  the  characteristic  defects  of  Thomas  Coke, 
that  no  man,  not  excepting  Wesley  or  Whitefield,  more 
completely  represented  the  religious  significance  of  those 
eventful  times. 

Though  American  Methodism  was  many  years  without  a 
distinct  missionary  organization,  it  was  owing  to  the  fact  that 
its  whole  Church  organization  was  essentially  a  missionary 
scheme.  It  was,  in  fine,  the  great  Home  Mission  enterprise  of 
the  North  American  continent,  and  its  domestic  work  de- 
manded all  its  resources  of  men  and  money.  It  early  began, 
however,  special  labors  among  the  aborigines  and  slaves.  The 
history  of  some  of  these  labors  would  be  an  exceedingly  inter- 
esting and  even  romantic  record,  but  our  limits  admit  but  this 
passing  allusion  to  them,  after  the  account  lately  given  of  their 
singular  origin  by  Stewart,  the  African.  The  year  1819  is 
memorable  as  the  epoch  of  the  formal  organization,  of  the 
American  Methodist  missionary  work.  Nathan  Bangs,  long 
distinguished  as  its  secretary  and  chief  representative,  was  also 
its  chief  founder.  He  made  it  the  theme  of  much  preliminary 
conversation  with  his  colleagues  and  the  principal  Methodist 
laymen  of  New  York  city.  Laban  Clark  introduced  it  by  a 
resolution  to  the  attention  of  the  metropolitan  preachers  at 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  545 

their  weekly  meeting,  "  consisting,"  says  Bangs,  "  of  Freeborn 
Garrettson,  Samuel  Merwin,  Laban  Clark,  Samuel  Howe,  Seth 
Crowell,  Thomas  Thorp,  Joshua  Soule,  Thomas  Mason,  and 
myself.  After  an  interchange  of  thoughts  the  resolution  was 
adopted,  and  Garrettson,  Clark,  and  myself  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  draft  a  constitution.  When  this  committee  met 
we  agreed  to  write,  each,  a  constitution,  then  come  together, 
compare  them,  and  adopt  the  one  which  should  be  considered 
the  most  suitable.  The  one  prepared  by  myself  was  adopted, 
submitted  to  the  Preachers'  Meeting,  and,  after  some  slight 
verbal  alterations,  was  finally  approved.  We  then  agreed  to 
call  a  public  meeting  in  the  Forsyth-street  Church  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  fifth  of  April,  1819,  which  was  accordingly  done.  I 
was  called  to  the  chair,  and,  after  the  reading  of  the  constitu 
tion,  Joshua  Soule  moved  its  adoption,  and  supported  his 
motion  by  a  powerful  speech.  He  was  seconded  by  Freeborn 
Garrettson,  who  also  pleaded  in  favor  of  the  scheme  from  his 
experience  in  the  itinerant  field  from  Virginia  to  ISTova  Scotia." 
The  constitution  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  the  following 
officers  were  chosen :  Bishop  M'Kendree,  President ;  Bishops 
George  and  Roberts,  and  Nathan  Bangs,  Yice-presidents ; 
Thomas  Mason,  Corresponding  Secretary;  Joshua  Soule,  Treas- 
urer ;  Francis  Hall,  Clerk ;  Daniel  Ayres,  Recording  Secretary. 
The  following  managers  were  also  chosen :  Joseph  Smith, 
Robert  Mathison,  Joseph  Sandford,  George  Suckley,  Samuel 
L.  Waldo,  Stephen  Dando,  Samuel  B.  Harper,  Lancaster  S. 
Burling,  William  Duval,  Paul  Hick,  John  Westfield,  Thomas 
Roby,  Benjamin  Disbrow,  James  B.  Gascoigne,  William  A. 
Mercein,  Philip  J.  Arcularius,  James  B.  Oakley,  George  Caines, 
Dr.  Seaman,  Dr.  Gregory,  John  Boyd,  M.  H.  Smith,  Nathaniel 
Jarvis,  Robert  Snow,  Andrew  Mercein,  Joseph  Moses,  John 
Paradise,  William  Myers,  William  B.  Skidmore,  Nicholas 
Schureman,  James  Wood,  Abraham  Paul.  The  historian 
of  the  society  says  :  "  It  is  obvious  that  almost  its  entire  busi- 
ness was  conducted  by  Dr.  Bangs  for  many  years.  In  addition 
to  writing  the  constitution,  the  address  and  circular,  he  was 
the  author  of  every  Annual  Report,  with  but  one  exception, 
from  the  organization  of  the  society  down  to  the  year  1841,  a 

35 


546  HISTORY   OF   THE 

period  of  twenty-two  years.  He  filled  the  offices  of  corre- 
sponding secretary  and  treasurer  for  sixteen  years,  without  a 
salary  or  compensation  of  any  kind,  until  his  appointment  to 
the  first  named  office  by  the  General  Conference  of  1836." 
In  this  single  instance  of  his  manifold  public  life  he  was  to  be 
identified  with  a  grand  religious  history.  He  was  to  see  the 
annual  receipts  of  the  society  enlarged  from  the  $823  of  its 
first  year  to  $250,374,  (including  its  offspring  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  to  half  a  million,)  and  its  total  re- 
ceipts, down  to  the  last  year  of  his  life,  more  than  four  and  a 
half  millions,  not  including  the  southern  society.  He  was  to 
witness  the  rise  (chiefly  under  the  auspices  of  the  Society)  of 
American-German  Meth-^ism,  an  epochal  fact  in  the  history 
of  his  denomination  next  in  importance  to  the  founding  of 
the  Church  by  Embury  and  Strawbridge.  Without  a  recog- 
nized missionary  for  some  time  after  its  origin,  the  society  was 
to  present  to  his  dying  gaze  a  list  of  nearly  four  hundred,  and 
more  than  thirty-three  thousand  mission  communicants,  repre 
senting  the  denomination  in  many  parts  of  the  United  States, 
in  Norway,  Sweden,  Germany,  Switzerland,  Bulgaria,  Africa, 
India,  China,  and  South  America.  Assisting  in  this  great 
work,  and  rejoicing  in  its  triumphs,  he  was  to  outlive  nearly 
all  its  original  officers  and  managers. 

The  next  General  Conference  (in  1820)  sanctioned  the 
scheme.  Emory  submitted  an  elaborate  report  on  the  subject. 
After  reasoning  at  length  upon  it,  he  asked,  "  Can  we,  then, 
be  listless  to  the  cause  of  missions  ?  We  cannot.  Methodism 
itself  is  a  missionary  system.  Yield  the  missionary  spirit,  and 
you  yield  the  very  life-blood  of  the  cause.  In  missionary 
efforts  our  British  brethren  are  before  us.  We  congratulate 
them  on  their  zeal  and  their  success.  But  your  committee 
beg  leave  to  entreat  this  Conference  to  emulate  their  ex- 
ample." The  Conference  adopted,  with  some  emendations, 
the  constitution  prepared  for  the  society  by  Bangs.  He 
thus  saw  his  great  favorite  measure  incorporated  into  the 
structure  of  the  Church.  He  writes:  "These  doings  of  the 
Conference  in  relation  to  the  Missionary  Society  exerted 
a    most   favorable   influence   upon    the    cause,    and    tended 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  547 

mightily  to  remove  the  unfounded  objections  which  existed  in 
some  minds  against  this  organization."  By  the  session  of  the 
General  Conference  of  1832  the  society's  operations  had 
extended  through  the  states  and  territories  of  the  nation,  and 
had  become  a  powerful  auxiliary  of  the  itinerant  system  of 
the  Church.  Hitherto  it  had  been  prosecuted  as  a  domestic 
scheme,  for  the  frontier  circuits,  the  slaves,  the  free  colored 
people,  and  the  Indian  tribes ;  it  had  achieved  great  success 
in  this  wide  field,  and  was  now  strong  enough  to  reach  abroad 
to  other  lands.  It  proposed,  with  the  sanction  of  this  Con- 
ference, to  plant  its  standard  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  send 
agents  to  Mexico  and  South  America  to  ascertain  the  feasibil- 
ity of  missions  in  those  countries.  Thus  were  begun  those 
foreign  operations  of  the  society  which  have  become  its  most 
interesting  labors. 

Its  domestic  Indian  missions  were  now  numerous,  and 
some  of  them  remarkably  prosperous;  "attended,"  Bangs 
says,  "with  unparalleled  success."  In  Upper  Canada  they 
numbered,  in  1831,  no  less  than  ten  stations,  and  nearly 
two  thousand  Indians  "  under  religious  instruction,  most  of 
whom  were  members  of  the  Church.  Among  the  Cherokees, 
in  Georgia,  they  had  at  the  same  date  no  less  than  seventeen 
missionary  laborers,  and  nearly  a  thousand  Church  members. 
Among  the  Choctaws  there  were  about 'four  thousand  com- 
municants, embracing  all  the  principal  men  of  the  nation, 
their  chiefs  and  captains."  And,  more  or  less,  along  the  whole 
frontier,  Indian  Missions  were  established.  Meanwhile  the 
destitute  fields  of  the  domestic  work  proper  were  dotted  with 
humble  but  effective  mission  stations,  from  the  St.  Lawrence 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  these  stations  were  rapidly  passing 
from  the  missionary  list  to  the  Conference  catalogue  of  appoint- 
ments as  self-supporting  Churches. 

Melville  B.  Cox,  whose  baptism,  and  the  reception  of  his 
family  into  the  Church  by  Kibby,  in  Maine,  have  been 
noticed,  sailed  for  Africa,  the  first  foreign  missionary  of 
American  Methodism.  He  organized  the  Liberia  Mission. 
He  fell  a  martyr  to  the  climate,  but  laid  on  that  benighted 
continent  the  foundations  of  the  denomination,  never,  it  may 


548  HISTORY    OF    THE 

be  hoped,  to  be  shaken.  About  the  same  time  a  delegation 
from  the  distant  Flathead  Indians  of  Oregon  arrived  in  the 
States  soliciting  missionaries.  %Their  appeal  was  zealously 
urged  through  the  Christian  Advocate,  and  received  an  en- 
thusiastic response  from  the  Church.  Bangs,  who  had  been  a 
leading  promoter  of  the  African  Mission,  now,  in  co-operation 
with  Fisk,  advocated  this  new  claim  with  his  utmost  ability. 
Jason  and  Daniel  Lee,  and  Cyrus  Shepard,  were  dispatched  as 
missionaries.  An  extraordinary  scheme  of  labors  was  adopted, 
involving  great  expense  ;  "  but,"  writes  Bangs,  "  the  projection 
of  this  important  mission  had  a  most  happy  effect  upon  the 
missionary  cause  generally.  The  entire  funds  of  the  society 
up  to  this  time  had  not  exceeded  eighteen  thousand  dollars  a 
year ;  their  amount  more  than  doubled  in  the  year  in  which 
the  Lees  and  Shepard  departed  to  their  field.  The  surges  of 
emigration  have  overwhelmed  nearly  all  that  grand  ultra- 
montane region ;  the  aborigines  are  sinking  out  of  sight 
beneath  them ;  but  the  Oregon  Mission  became  the  nucleus  of 
the  Christianity  and  civilization  of  the  new  and  important 
State  which  has  since  arisen  on  the  North  Pacific  coast. 

Meanwhile  Fountain  C.  Pitts  was  sent  on  a  mission  of  inquiry 
to  South  America.  He  visited  Rio  Janeiro,  Buenos  Ayres, 
Monte  A7ideo,  and  other  places,  and  the  Methodist  South 
American  Mission  was  founded  the  next  year  by  Justin 
Spaulding.  Thus  had  the  Church  borne  at  last  its  victorious 
banner  into  the  field  of  foreign  missions.  It  was  to  be  tried 
severely  in  these  new  contests,  but  to  march  on  through 
triumphs  and  defeats  till  it  should  take  foremost  rank  among 
denominations  devoted  to  foreign  evangelization.  The  op- 
erations of  the  Missionary  Society  had  now  assumed  such 
importance  as  to  justify,  in  the  judgment  of  the  General  Con- 
ference, the  appointment  of  a  "  Resident  Corresponding  Secre- 
tary," who  could  devote  his  whole  attention  to  them.  Of 
course  the  mind  of  the  Conference,  as  indeed  of  the  general 
Church,  turned  spontaneously  to  Bangs  as  the  man  for  such 
an  office,  and  he  was  elected  by  a  large  majority.  He  entered 
with  energy  upon  his  new  functions.  The  first  year  of  his 
secretaryship  was  signalized  bv  the  first  recognition  and  an- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUEOH.  549 

nouncement,  by  the  Missionary  Society,  of  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  events  in  the  history  of  modern  missions,  the 
beginning  of  the  German  Methodist  Missions.  Professor  Xast, 
a  young  German  scholar  of  thorough  but  Eationalistic  educa- 
tion, had  been  reclaimed  by  Methodism  to  the  faith  of  the 
Kefor rnation.  He  labored  for  some  time  among  his  country- 
men in  Cincinnati,  and  later  on  the  Columbus  District,  com- 
prising a  Circuit  of  three  hundred  miles,  and  twenty-two 
appointments.  Thus  originated  the  most  successful,  if  not  the 
most  important  of  Methodist  missions;  and  in  the  next 
Annual  Eeport  of  the  society  the  "  German  Mission,"  and  the 
name  of  "William  Nast,"  its  founder  and  missionary,  were 
first  declared  to  the  general  Church.  German  Methodism 
rapidly  extended  through  the  nation ;  to  Boston  in  the  north- 
east, to  New  Orleans  in  the  southwest.  German  Methodist 
Churches,  Circuits,  Districts,  were  organized.  "  In  the  brief 
space  of  fourteen  years,"  says,  the  historian  of  Methodist  Mis- 
sions, "the  German  Missions  have  extended  all  over  the 
country,  yielding  seven  thousand  Church  members,  thirty 
local  preachers,  eighty-three  regular  mission  circuits  and 
stations,  and  one  hundred  and  eight  missionaries.  One  hun- 
dred churches  were  built  for  German  worship,  and  forty 
parsonages.  Primitive  Methodism  appears  to  have  revived  in 
the  zeal  and  simplicity  and  self-sacrificing  devotion  of  the 
German  Methodists.  May  they  ever  retain  this  spirit !  No 
agency  has  ever  been  employed  so  specifically  adapted  to 
effect  the  conversion  of  Komanists  as  that  which  is  immedi- 
ately connected  with  the  German  Mission  enterprise.  The 
pastoral  visitations  of  the  preachers  bringing  them  into  im- 
mediate contact  with  German  Catholics,  their  distribution  of 
Bibles  and  tracts,  their  plain,  pointed,  and  practical  mode 
of  preaching,  all  combine  to  bring  the  truth  to  bear  upon  that 
portion  of  the  population  ;  and  the  result  is  the  conversion  of 
hundreds  from  the  errors  of  Komanism."  The  chief  import- 
ance of  the  German  Mission  has,  however,  been  subsequently 
developed.  It  has  not  only  raised  up  a  mighty  evangelical 
provision  for  the  host  of  German  emigrants  to  the  New  World, 
but,  under  the  labors  of  Jacoby,  it  has  intrenched  itself  in  the 


550  HISTORY   OF   THE 

German  "fatherland/'  and  is  laying  broad  foundations  for  a 
European  German  Methodism.  German  Societies  and  Circuits, 
a  German  Conference,  a  "  Book  Concern,"  with  its  periodicals, 
a  Ministerial  School,  and  all  the  other  customary  appliances 
of  evangelical  Churches,  have  been  established ;  and,  in  our 
day,  this  Teutonic  Methodism  comprises,  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic,  nearly  thirty  thousand  communicants,  and  nearly 
three  hundred  missionaries. 

It  is  impossible  here  to  trace  in  detail  the  further  outspread 
of  this  great  interest,  especially  under  the  successful  adminis- 
tration of  its  ablest  secretary,  John  P.  Durbin,  nor  is  it  ap- 
propriate to  the  limits  of  the  present  work.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  the  annual  receipts  of  the  society,  which,  the  year  before 
his  administration  began,  amounted  to  about  $104,000,  have 
risen  to  more  than  $700,000  ;  and  that,  besides  its  very  exten- 
sive domestic  work,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  now 
missions  in  China,  India,  Africa,  Bulgaria,  Germany,  Switzer- 
land, Denmark,  Norway,  Sweden,  and  South  America.  Its 
missions,  foreign  and  domestic,  have  1,059  circuits  and  sta- 
tions, 1,128  paid  laborers,  (preachers  and  assistants,)  and 
105,675  communicants.  The  funds  contributed  to  its  treasury 
from  the  beginning  amount  to  about  $8,000,000.  About  350 
of  the  missionaries  preach  in  the  German  and  Scandinavian 
languages,  and  more  than  30,000  of  the  communicants  are 
German  and  Scandinavian.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  had,  in  addition  to  these,  before  the  Kebellion,  missions 
in  China,  among  our  foreign  settlers,  among  the  American 
Indians,  and  the  southern  slaves.  About  three  hundred  and 
sixty  of  its  preachers  were  enrolled  as  missionaries. 

American,  like  British,  Methodism,  has  become  thoroughly 
imbued  with  the  apostolic  idea  of  foreign  and  universal  evan- 
gelization. With  both  bodies  it  is  no  longer  an  incidental  or 
secondary  attribute,  but  is  inwrought  into  their  organic  eccle- 
siastical systems.  It  has  deepened  and  widened  till  it  has  be- 
come the  great  characteristic  of  modern  Methodism,  raising  it 
from  a  revival  of  vital  Protestantism,  chiefly  among  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race,  to  a  world-wide  system  of  Christianization,  which 
has  reacted  on  all  the  great  interests  of  its  Anglo-Saxon  field 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  551 

has  energized  and  ennobled  most  of  its  other  characteristics, 
and  would  seem  to  pledge  to  it  a  universal  and  perpetual 
sway  in  the  earth.  Taken  in  connection  with  the  London  and 
Church  Missionary  Societies,  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  the  London  Tract  Society,  to  all  of  which  Methodism 
gave  the  originating  impulse,  and  the  Sunday-school  Institu- 
tion, which  it  was  the  first  to  adopt  as  an  agency  of  the 
Church,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  it  has  been  transform- 
ing the  character  of  English  Protestantism  and  the  moral 
prospects  of  the  world.  Its  missionary  development  has  pre- 
served its  primitive  energy.  According  to  the  usual  history 
of  religious  bodies,  if  not  indeed  by  a  law  of  the  human  mind, 
its  early  heroic  character  would  have  passed  away  by  its  do- 
mestic success,  and  the  cessation  of  the  novelty  and  trials  of 
its  early  periods  ;  but  by  throwing  itself  out  upon  all  the 
world,  and  especially  upon  the  strongest  citadels  of  Paganism, 
it  has  perpetuated  its  original  militant  spirit,  and  opened  for 
itself  a  heroic  career,  which  need  end  only  with  the  universal 
triumph  of  Christianity.  English  Methodism  was  considered, 
at  the  death  of  its  founder,  a  marvelous  fact  in  British  history ; 
but  to-day  the  Wesleyan  missions  alone  comprise  more  than 
twice  the  number  of-the  regular  preachers  enrolled  in  the  En- 
glish Minutes  in  the  year  of  Wesley's  death,  and  nearly  twice 
as  many  communicants  as  the  Minutes  then  reported  from  all 
parts  of  the  world  which  had  been  reached  by  Methodism. 
The  latest  reported  number  of  missionary  communicants  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  equals  nearly  one  half  the 
whole  membership  of  the  Church  in  the  year  (1819)  in  which 
the  Missionary  Society  was  founded,  and  is  nearly  double 
that  with  which  the  denomination  closed  the  last  century,  after 
more  than  thirty  years  of  labors  and  struggles. 

Such,  then,  are  some  of  the  results  of  Methodism.  Nor  are 
these  all,  for  all  the  existing  Methodist  bodies  of  the  country 
have  sprung  from  it,  and  their  combined  strength  alone  prop- 
erly shows  the  aggregate  result.  Half  the  Methodism  of  the 
country  stands  to-day  beyond  the  ecclesiastical  limits  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


552  HISTORY    OF    THE 


CHAPTEK  XXXV. 

REPRESENTATIVE  MINISTERIAL   CHARACTERS  I    SUMMERFIELD  — 
MAFFITT  —  COOKMAN  —  OLIN. 

The  first  and  second  generations  of  Methodist  preachers  have 
been  somewhat  amply  described  in  the  preceding  periods  of 
our  narrative ;  they  present  a  type  of  ministerial  character 
which  has  continued  to  be  more  or  less  characteristic  of  the 
mass  of  the  itinerancy  through  the  subsequent  history  of  the 
Church.  Not  a  few  of  the  men  described  still  linger  in 
its  pulpits.  The  present  period  begins  with  904  traveling 
preachers,  and  ends  with  7,576.  It  is  impossible,  there- 
fore, to  treat  of  them  with  'any  such  detail  as  has  been 
deemed  proper  to  the  ministry  of  the  earlier  or  forming  peri- 
ods of  the  denomination.  I  have  already,  however,  alluded  to 
a  new  type  or  phase  of  ministerial  character  which  had  begun 
to  appear  before  the  present  date,  and  which  remains  to  be 
represented  by  a  few  of  its  eminent  examples — a  class  of  men 
who  were  to  retain  the  spiritual  power  and  unction  of 
the  original  itinerants,  but  to  combine  with  them  a  higher 
intellectual  culture  or  the  commanding  attractions  of  genius, 
and  whose  example  and  influence  have  tended  to  elevate,  intel- 
lectually and  almost  universally,  the  character  of  the  pastor- 
ate, and  to  prepare  it  for  those  necessities  which  the  maturer 
condition  of  the  Church  must  create,  and  tints  secure  its 
future  as  well  as  its  past. 

From  the  beginning  not  a  few  of  the  itinerants  had,  by  their 
moral  energy  and  natural  talents,  wielded  more  than  a  denom- 
inational sway  over  the  popular  mind ;  but  the  new  class  were 
to  attain  a  sort  of  national  rather  than  denominational  recog- 
nition, and  to  give  their  Church  the  highest  vindication  before 
the  American  people.  Some  of  this  class  have  already  neces- 
sarily been  noticed,  such  as  Capers,  Emory,  Bascom,  Ruter, 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  553 

Durb&i,  Elliott,  Fisk,  but  many  remain  unrecorded.  Some 
appeared,  for  the  first  time,  and  died,  in  our  present  period ;  not 
a  few  are  now  living  •  of  the  former  alone  can  we  venture  here 
to  speak. 

The  peculiar  unity  of  the  Church,  resulting  from  its  itinerant 
episcopate,  and  the  interchange  of  its  pastors,  has  been  highly 
favorable  to  the  reputation  of  such  men.  They  have  been 
recognized  as  the  common  representatives  and  common  favor- 
ites of  the  denomination.  They  have  moved  extensively  through 
its  territory,  not  as  foreign  visitors,  but  as.honored  members  of 
one  great  family,  leaders  in  the  common  pastorate.  In  no 
other  denomination  of  the  land  has  this  sentiment  of  fraternity 
been  so  prevalent  and  so  characteristic.  It  has  been  of  no 
little  practical  value ;  a  great  idea,  a  great  deed,  or  a  great 
man,  has  always  had  a  wider  sway  among  Methodists  than 
among  other  Churches.  While  the  reputation  of  eminent 
preachers,  in  more  localized  or  more  restricted  communions,  has 
been  analogous  to  that  of  leaders  in  the  State  governments,  the 
fame  of  our  distinguished  preachers,  and  its  moral  power,  have 
been  analogous  to  the  fame  and  influence  of  our  great  National 
Statesmen.  With  the  increase  and  consolidation  of  the  Church 
this  advantage  is  disappearing — perhaps  inevitably.  It  gave 
to  the  class  of  men  referred  to  a  standing  among  us,  similar  to 
that  which  the  great  preachers  of  the  age  of  Louis  XIY.  occu- 
pied among  the  clergy  of  France.  Methodism  may  have  here- 
after as  great  men  intrinsically,  but  they  can  hardly  wield  as 
extended  a  sway  over  the  general  mind  of  the  Church. 

John  Summerfield,  if  not  the  first  of  this  general  or  extra- 
denominational  fame,  was  unquestionably  one  of  the  very 
best.  He  joined  the  Irish  Conference  in  1819,  and  came  to 
America  in  1821.  His  fame  was  immediate  through  all  the 
Atlantic  States ;  no  temples  could  accommodate  the  throngs 
which  crowded  to  hear  him  in  the  great  cities ;  they  blocked 
the  streets  around  the  churches;  his  words  of  charity  and 
power  dissolved  all  sectarian  repugnances,  and  the  whole 
Protestant  community  gathered  about  him  and  regarded  him 
as  an  unequaled  representative  of  their  common  faith — re- 
garded him  with  wonder,  benedictions,  and  tears.    His  ministry 


554  HISTORY    OF    THE 

was  short,  and  presents  no  salient  historical  facts  except  its 
extraordinary  pulpit  power,  and  of  this  it  is  hardly  possible  to 
give  a  just  idea  to  readers  who  never  heard  him.  A  chaste 
style;  fertility  of  good  but  not  extraordinary  thought,  adorned 
frequently,  however,  by  apposite  figures ;  the  facility  of  a  re- 
markably colloquial  manner,  which  made  his  hearers  feel  as  if 
they  had  a  sort  of  interlocutory  participation  in  the  discourse ; 
and,  above  all,  an  indescribably  sweet  spirit  of  piety — the  very 
personality  of  the  speaker  sanctified,  and  revealing  itself  in  his 
tones,  looks,  and  gestures — were  the  traits  of  this  extraordinary 
man.  This  manifestation  of  his  personal  characteristics  had 
nothing,  however,  of  egotism  about  it.  It  was  not  preaching 
himself  instead  of  Christ,  but  Christ  in  himself,  as  well  as  in 
his  subject ;  so  that  Christ  was  presented  at  once  both  "  object- 
ively" and  "  subjectively,"  and  thus  became  "  all  in  all."  The 
fame  of  few  men  has  depended  less  upon  original  talent,  and 
more  on  personal  dispositions,  than  that  of  Summerfield. 
Though  the  most  transcendent  in  his  reputation,  he  was  at  the 
same  time  the  most  imitable  of  the  eminent  preachers  of  Meth- 
odism. Simplicity,  placidity,  meekness,  and  a  colloquial  manner, 
combined  with  good  but  not  great  ideas,  certainly  would  seem  to 
be  of  easy  acquisition.  Still  the  imitation  of  the  excellences  of 
a  model,  however  desirable,  is  often  found  exceedingly  difficult. 
To  copy  a  model  entire  is  impracticable,  and  always  results  in 
absurd  defects,  for  the  moral  idiosyncrasies  of  men  give  an  in- 
dividuality to  their  character  and  manner  which  must  remain 
inexorably  distinct  from  all  resemblances,  as  the  differences  of 
faces  show  themselves  notwithstanding  any  similarity  of  feat- 
ures. Only  such  as  are  similar  in  these  idiosyncrasies  could 
possibly  imitate  each  other's  excellences.  Henry  B.  Bascom 
would  have  become  ridiculous  with  the  pulpit  manner  of  John 
Summerfield. 

The  best  judges  who  were  familiar  with  Summerfield's 
preaching  find  it  impossible  to  tell,  precisely,  in  what  its  inter- 
est consisted.  We  venture  to  repeat  that  the  solution  of  the 
problem  is  to  be  found  mostly,  if  not  wholly,  in  the  consecrated 
personality  of  the  man — the  beautiful  compatibility  between 
the  preacher  and  his  preaching — a  harmony  that  revealed  itself 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  555 

in  his  looks,  his  tones,  his  gestures,  and  all  the  subtler  indica- 
tions of  verbal  style,  mental  aptitudes,  and  moral  dispositions. 
We  have  only  to  suppose  him  strongly  characterized  by  other 
traits  than  those  mentioned,  to  perceive  at  once  that  he  must 
have  been  an  entirely  different  preacher.  Had  lie  possessed 
the  same  intellectual  capacities,  but  been  brusque,  or  denunci- 
atory, or  satirical — had  he  been  tinged  strongly  with  morose- 
ness,  misanthropy,  or  self-conceit — his  pulpit  characteristics 
would  have  been  different ;  he  never  could  have  won  the  pe- 
culiar fame  which  attaches  to  his  memory ;  he  would  probably 
have  gone  down  to  the  grave  without  public  distinction.  "With 
a  mind  susceptible  of  all  graceful  impressions,  a  heart  whose 
sensibility  was  feminine — yet  with  such  feminineness  as  we 
ascribe  to  angels,  and  think  of  as  consistent  with  mighty  though 
serene  strength — he  united  the  very  sanctity  of  religion,  and  a 
simplicity  of  purpose  which  saved  him  utterly  from  the  affec- 
tations or  artifices  that  might  have  marred  his  character,  and 
must  have  quite  changed  the  effect  of  his  preaching. 

Montgomery  the  poet  expressed  a  just  critical  estimate  of 
him  when  he  said  :  "  Summeriield  had  intense  animal  feeling, 
and  much  of  morbid  imagination ;  but  of  poetic  feeling,  and 
poetic  imagination,  very  little — at  least  there  is  very  little  trace 
of  either  in  anything  that  he  has  left,  beyond  a  few  vivid  but 
momentary  flashes  in  his  sermons."  This  "  animal  feeling,"  how- 
ever, must  be  understood  to  have  been  refined  and  intensified  by 
divine  grace  into  the  holiest  moral  affections ;  so  that  the  sym- 
pathetic instincts  of  the  heart  became  in  him  pure  religious  pas- 
sions, and  seemed  such  as  might  befit  the  bosom  of  a  seraph. 
His  appearance  in  the  pulpit  was  expressive  of  his  character, 
and  contributed  much  to  the  effect  of  his  discourse.  Though 
his  face  possessed  nothing  at  first  and  near  view  remarkably 
striking  or  agreeable,  yet,  when  irradiated  with  the  fervor  of 
his  feelings,  it  was  angelically  beautiful.  The  portrait  which 
accompanied  Holland's  memoir  is  considered  a  good  one,  but 
it  fails  to  represent  the  glowing  life  that  played  over  his  feat- 
ures and  radiated  from  his  eyes.  The  languor  of  disease  could 
not  mar  this  moral  beauty ;  it  rather  enhanced  it,  by  adding 
a  delicacy  which  could  not  fail  to  associate  with  the  hearer's 


556  HISTORY    OF    THE 

admiration  a  sentiment  of  tender  and  even  loving  sympathy. 
His  voice  was  not  strong,  but  exceedingly  flexible  and  sweet, 
and  harmonized  always  with  the  vibrations  of  his  feelings. 
His  gestures  did  not  violate  the  rules  of  the  art,  but  seemed 
not  the  result  of  it.  They  were  unexceptionably  natural,  and 
yet  naturally  conformed  to  the  art.  He  was,  in  fine,  so  exempt 
from  artifice— he  so  entirely  surrendered  himself  to  the  occasion 
and  its  concomitants,  whatever  they  might  be— that  he  spon- 
taneously fell  into  unison  with  them,  and  seemed  naturally  and 
immediately  to  acquire  that  mastery  over  them  which  the  high- 
est art  cannot  always  command.  This  is  the  truest  genius. 
Genius  is  not  independent  of  art,  but  it  is  its  prerogative  often 
to  assume  it  intuitively,  reaching  its  results  without  its  labors. 
Labor  is  an  important  aid  to  genius  unquestionably ;  the  latter 
is  seldom  notably  successful  without  the  former ;  and  yet  the 
great  characteristic  of  genius  is  the  facility,  the  apparent 
ease,  with  which  it  accomplishes  what  art,  without  genius, 
reaches  only  through  elaborate  assiduity.  Genius  suffers  more 
than  it  labors,  but  it  suffers  not  so  much  in  action  as  in  reaction. 
Its  sensibility  is  what  mainly  gives  it  success,  but  it  often  in- 
flicts misery  also. 

Though  in  the  delivery  of  his  sermons  there  was  this  facility 
—felicity  we  might  call  it— in  their  preparation  he  was  a  labo- 
rious student.  He  was  a  hearty  advocate  of  extempore  preach- 
ing, and  would  have  been  deprived  of  most  of  his  popular  power 
in  the  pulpit  by  being  confined  to  a  manuscript ;  yet  he  knew 
the  importance  of  study,  and  particularly  of  the  habitual  use 
of  the  pen  in  order  to  success  in  extemporaneous  speaking. 
His  own  rule  was  to  prepare  a  skeleton  of  his  sermon,  and 
after  preaching  it,  write  it  out  in  fuller  detail,  filling  up  the 
original  sketch  with  the  principal  thoughts  which  had  occurred 
to  him  in  the  process  of  the  discourse.  The  first  outline,  how- 
ever, took  in  the  perspective  of  the  entire  discourse— the  lead- 
ing ideas,  from  the  exordium  to  the  peroration.  He  followed 
this  method  even  in  his  platform  speeches.  Montgomery  notices 
the  minuteness  of  his  preparations  in  nearly  two  hundred  manu- 
script sketches.  Besides  this  large  number  of  sermons  and 
sketches,  filling  seven  post-octavo  volumes,  he  left  two  consid- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  557 

erable  volumes,  one  "  a  counting-house  ledger,"  filled  with  exe- 
getical  notes  on  the  Scriptures,  in  such  minute  penmanship, 
and  with  so  many  abbreviations,  that  it  is  said  they  can  scarcely 
be  "  deciphered  without  a  glass." 

A  volume  of  his  sermons  and  sketches  of  sermons  has  been 
published.  They  afford  no  evidence  of  the  transcendent  power 
of  the  preacher.  The  "skeletons"  contained  in  this  volume 
illustrate,  however,  his  pulpit  style  ;  to  such  as  heard  him  often 
they  must  recall  the  image  and  indescribable  manner  of  the 
preacher,  his  facility  of  thought,  his  colloquial  and  abrupt  style, 
the  fervent  variability  of  his  feelings.  They  may  be  taken  also 
as  specimens  of  his  outline  preparations.  Not  only  are  the 
leading  thoughts  noted,  but  abundance  of  illustrative  details 
also.  The  pithy  Scripture  allusions  with  which  they  abound 
are  characteristic  of  his  discourses ;  his  own  diction  was  senten- 
tious and  Saxon,  but  its  terseness  and  simple  beauty  were  contin- 
ually enhanced  by  remarkably  apt  biblical  phrases.  His  style 
was  a  mosaic  of  pertinent  and  beautiful  texts.  The  quotation 
of  a  single  word  would  sometimes  terminate  a  climax  with 
brilliant  effect,  or  conclude  an  illustration  with  epigrammatic 
significance. 

He  was  taken  from  the  Church  while  yet  in  his  youth. 
What  would  have  been  the  effect  of  years  on  his  eloquence  is 
a  question  which  occurs  to  us  very  naturally,  and  is  a  curious 
one  at  least.  We  so  spontaneously  associate  his  juvenile  deli- 
cacy and  beauty  with  the  impression  of  his  preaching,  that  we 
can  hardly  conceive  of  him  as  the  same  man  in  middle  life  or 
old  age.  He  was  but  about  twenty  years  old  when  he  began 
to  preach,  but  twenty-three  when  he  arrived  in  America,  and 
only  twenty-seven  when  he  died.  His  personal  appearance 
first  excited  the  anxiety  of  the  hearer,  next  won  his  sympathy, 
until  he  discovered  in  it  at  last,  by  the  contrast  of  his  mature 
and  resplendent  ability,  only  an  additional  reason  for  wonder 
and  admiration.  The  circumstances  under  which  his  second 
appearance  in  public,  after  his  arrival  in  this  country,  took 
place,  very  happily  concurred  to  enhance  this  advantage.  It 
was  on  the  anniversary  platform  of  the  American  Bible  So- 
ciety.    A  masterly  address  had'just  been  Pronounced  by  an 


558  HISTORY    OF  TIIE 

eminent  clergyman  ;  murmurs  of  applause  were  audible  in  the 
assembly.  Dr.  Bethune,  who  was  present,  says :  "  The  chair 
announced  the  Eev.  Mr.  Summerfield,  from  England.  '  What 
presumption  ! '  said  my  clerical  neighbor ;  '  a  boy  like  that  to 
be  set  up  after  a  giant ! '  But  the  stripling  came  in  the  name 
of  the  God  of  Israel,  armed  with  'a  few  smooth  stones  from 
the  brook ' '  that  flows  '  hard  by  the  oracles  of  God.'  His 
motion  was  one  of  thanks  to  the  officers  of  the  society  for  their 
labors  during  the  year ;  and  of  course  he  had  to  allude  to  the 
president,  then  reposing  in  another  part  of  the  house;  and 
thus  he  did  it:  'When  I  saw  that  venerable  man,  too  aged  to 
warrant  the  hope  of  being  with  you  at  another  anniversary,  he 
reminded  me  -of  Jacob  leaning  upon  the  top  of  his  staff,  bless- 
ing his  children  before  he  departed.'  He  then  passed  on  to 
encourage  the  society  by  the  example  of  the  British  institution. 
'  When  we  first  launched  our  untried  vessel  upon  the  deep,  the 
storms  of  opposition  roared,  and  the  waves  dashed  angrily 
around  us,  and  we  had  hard  work  to  keep  her  head  to  the 
wind.  We  were  faint  with  rowing,  and  our  strength  would 
soon  have  been  gone,  but  we  cried,  "Lord,  save  us,  or  we 
perish ! "  when  a  light  shone  upon  the  waters,  and  we  saw  a 
form  walking  upon  the  troubled  sea,  like  unto  that  of  the  Son 
of  God,  and  he  drew  near  the  ship,  and  we  knew  that  it  was 
Jesus ;  and  he  stepped  upon  the  deck,  and  laid  his  hand  on 
the  helm,  and  he  said  unto  the  winds  and  waves,  "  Peace,  be 
still,"  and  there  was  a  great  calm.  Let  not  the  friends  of  the 
Bible  fear ;  God  is  in  the  midst  of  us.  God  shall  help  us,  and 
that  right  early.'  In  such  a  strain  he  went  on  to  the  close. 
'Wonderful!  wonderful!'  said  my  neighbor  the  critic;  'he 
talks  like  an  angel  from  heaven.'  " 

"  He  talked  like  an  angel,"  not  merely  because  his  thoughts 
were  excellent,  but  because  the  visible  man,  clothed  with 
physical  delicacy  and  youthfulness,  and  glowing  with  moral 
beauty,  seemed  an  embodiment  of  our  ideal  of  an  angelic  ap- 
parition. Riper  years  would  doubtless  have  modified  this 
peculiar  charm  of  his  youthfulness ;  but  it  may  be  doubted 
that  they  could  have  marred  the  effect  of  his  eloquence,  for  the 
good  reason  that  his  oratory  was  perfectly  natural.     Being 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHUECH.  559 

natural,  it  would  have  been  permanent  as  his  nature,  taking 
new  hues  from  the  changes  of  life,  but  only  such  as,  being 
congenial  with  those  changes,  would  render  it  congruous 
with  them — would  sustain  his  beautiful  naturalness.  If  his 
eloquence  had  lost  some  of  its  juvenile  traits  in  maturer  years, 
it  would  probably  have  gained  in  riper  and  richer  qualities, 
as  good  wine  gains  in  zest,  though  it  loses  in  sweetness,  by 
age.  Emanating  as  it  did  from  the  very  nature  of  the  man, 
we  can  imagine  it  to  have  retained  its  essential  charm  unin- 
jured, though  varied,  even  in  old  age ;  and  if  John  Summer- 
field  had  lived  to  hoary  years,  we  can  conceive  of  him  only  as 
the  St.  John  of  his  day — the  beloved  disciple,  who  still  saw  the 
visions  of  God,  and  upon  whose  lips,  as  was  said  of  Plato,  bees 
from  the  flowers  had  shed  their  honey. 

In  private  life  Summerfield  was,  if  possible,  still  more  in- 
teresting than  in  the  pulpit.  He  was  fertile  in  conversation. 
He  had  a  flowing  but  delicate  humor,  quite  Addisonian  in  its 
character,  always  appropriate  but  never  sarcastic.  His  extraor- 
dinary memory  rendered  him  familiar  with  the  names  of  all 
who  were  introduced  to  him,  even  children  and  servants — he 
seldom  or  never  forgot  them.  Above  all,  he  had  the  happy 
faculty  of  introducing  into  all  circles  appropriate  subjects  of 
religious  conversation.  There  was  no  cant  about  him,  no 
overweening  endeavor  to  impress  the  eager  groups  around  him 
with  a  sense  of  his  clerical  scrupulousness,  but  an  unaffected 
respectfulness,  a  confiding  courtesy,  which  conciliated  the 
listener  and  compelled  him  to  look  upon  any  devout  remark  as 
happily  congruous  to  the. occasion,  and  even  felicitously  befit- 
ting to  the  man. 

An  incurable  malady  reminded  him  that  he  must  work 
while  the  day  lasted,  for  the  night  was  at  hand.  He  was  in- 
cessant in  his  labors,  preaching  often  from  five  to  ten  dis- 
courses a  week.  Besides  frequent  addresses,  in  which  he  was 
remarkably  happy,  he  delivered  about  four  hundred  sermons  in 
the  first  year  and  a  half  of  his  ministry.  Throughout  his  brief 
but  laborious  career  he  bore  about  with  him  that  "morbid 
feeling"  of  which  Montgomery  speaks,  and  which  seems  in- 
deed a  usual,  pathological  accompaniment  of  genius.     His  con- 


560  HISTORY   OF    THE 

version  had  been  clear  and  decided,  yet  in  his  subsequent  re- 
ligious experience  he  was  subject  to  severe  inward  conflicts, 
and  Holland  has  justly  remarked  that  "  the  light  of  spiritual 
illumination  in  him  (whatever  may  have  been  the  case  in 
others)  did  not  uninterruptedly  shine  'brighter  and  brighter 
unto  the  perfect  day ; '  but  clouds  and  darkness  frequently  in- 
tercepted the  rays  of  that  Sun  of  righteousness  which  had  so 
evidently  arisen  on  his  soul.  Indeed,  the  Lord  seems  to  have 
led  his  servant,  not  with  the  shadow  pj  day  and  the  glory  by 
night  of  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire,  but  alternately  amid 
perpetual  natural  gloom,  presenting  to  him  the  light  of  the 
flame  that  cheered  the  Israelites  on  the  verge  of  the  Red  Sea, 
and  the  darkness  behind  that  frowned  upon  the  Egyptians 
their  pursuers.  But  God,  who  is  '  love,'  was  equally  present  to 
him  in  the  splendor  and  terror — in  the  hidings  as  in  the  reveal- 
ings  of  his  face — and  by  that  mysterious  dispensation,  we  can- 
not doubt,  led  him,  as  the  best  mode  of  guidance,  through  the 
sea  and  the  wilderness,  over  Jordan  to  the  Canaan  and  Jeru- 
salem, which  is  above." 

This  was  his  discipline  ;  he  needed  it  amid  the  dangerous  flat- 
teries of  his  success.  It  was  probably  one  of  the  most  effectual 
causes  of  that  profound  humility  which  was  at  once  the  pro- 
tection and  the  charm  of  his  saintly  character.  Could  we  read 
the  inmost  history  of  most  of  the  mighty  men  of  God  in  the 
earth,  we  should  find  that  they  have  been  summoned  by  him 
to  confront,  like  Moses,  the  fiery  terrors  of  Sinai,  or  like  Dan- 
iel, to  call  upon  him  from  the  lions'  den,  or  like  Paul,  to  bear 
with  them  to  the  grave  the  thorn  in  the  flesh.  The  youthful 
hero,  wounded  in  the  well-sustained  conflict,  retired  at  last  to 
his  tent  to  die,  in  1825.  "  Well— yes— well— all  is  well." 
"  I  want  a  change — a  change  of  form — a  change  of  everything," 
he  said  feebly  as  the  last  struggle  approached.  "  All — though 
— sin — has — entered ;  "  but  his  utterance  failed  in  the  quota- 
tion. Night  came  on ;  with  increased  energy  he  exclaimed, 
"  All's  perfection !  "    "  Good-night !  "  were  his  last  words. 

John  N".  Maffit,  an  Irishman,  joined  the  itinerancy  in  1822, 
and  for  some  thirty  years  was  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
and  anomalous  pulpit  orators  of  the  nation.     As  an  elocution  • 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  561 

ist  he  may  be  said  to  have  been  perfect — in  voice  and  gesture 
unrivaled.  To  the  last,  his  arrival  in  any  city  produced  a 
general  sensation ;  and  no  preacher,  not  even  Summerfield  or 
Bascom,  attracted  larger  multitudes.  His  style  was  Ossianic  ; 
too  extravagant  to  be  read,  but,  sustained  by  his  elocution, 
seemed  natural,  and  was  even  fascinating,  in  the  desk,  and  his 
discourses  were  always  wonderfully  effective.  He  was  eccentric  ; 
simple  and  indiscreet  as  a  child;  "  a  parodox,"  says  one  of  his 
brethren,  "  of  goodness,  greatness,  and  weakness."  The  Spar- 
tan-like severity  of  the  elder  ministry  was  perplexed  with  won- 
der and  doubt  before  his  singularities,  but  these  good  men 
could  not  question  his  usefulness ;  they  reluctantly  tolerated 
his  Hibernian  peculiarities,  and  received,  through  his  labors, 
thousands  of  converts  into  their  Societies.  He  broke  away  from 
the  "  regular  itinerancy,"  and  for  years  traveled  over  most 
of  the  nation,  streaking  its  whole  sky  as  a  comet.  He  was 
elected  chaplain  to  Congress,  and  produced  a  powerful  impres- 
sion at  the  national  capital.  He  abounded  in  illustrations 
and  anecdotes,  and  could  play  on  the  sympathies  of  his  hear- 
ers like  an  accomplished  musician  on  the  strings  of  his  instru- 
ment. They  seemed  to  yield  themselves  entirely  to  his 
magical  power,  alternately  smiling  and  weeping,  often  sobbing 
aloud  and  nearly  drowning  his  voice.  He  drew  them  in  pen- 
itent crowds  to  the  altars  for  prayers  and  religious  counsels, 
and  was  everywhere  successful  as  a  "revivalist."  A  cloud 
came  over  his  eccentric  career  at  last.  Checked  in  the  North- 
ern Church,  he  found  refuge  in  the  Southern,  and  died  in 
Mobile,  mourned  by  many,  impeached  by  not  a  few,  but  the 
wonder  if  not  the  admiration  of  all. 

George  Gr.  Cookman  disappeared  from  the  Church  by  a  ter- 
rible disaster  in  the  prime  of  his  manhood,  and  at  a  period  in 
his  ministerial  career  when  the  star  of  his  fame  seemed  to  cul- 
minate, and  attract  the  gaze  not  only  of  the  Church  but  of 
the  nation.  He  was  born  in  1800,  at  Hull,  England,  and 
came  of  a  good  Wesleyan  stock.  His  father,  a  man  of  wealth 
and  of  high  respectability,  was  a  Methodist  local  preacher,  and 
his  early  domestic  education  tended  to  form  the  son  for  the 
work  of  his  life.     While  yet  very  young  he  gave  evidence  of 

36 


562  HISTORY    OF    THE 

his  peculiar  capabilities  for  public  speaking,  on  the  platform 
of  Sunday-school  and  juvenile  missionary  anniversaries. 
Some  of  these  efforts  of  his  childhood  are  said  to  have  excited 
extraordinary  interest.  In  his  eighteenth  year  the  death  of  a 
young  friend  left  a  profound  impression  upon  his  mind,  which 
resulted  in  his  conversion.  When  about  twenty-one  years  old 
he  visited  this  country  on  business  for  his  father,  and  while  at 
Schenectady,  New  York,  received  the  impression  that  it  was 
his  duty  to  devote  his  life  to  the  Christian  ministry.  He  be- 
gan there  his  labors  as  a  local  preacher.  In  1821  he  returned 
to  Hull,  and  entered  into  business  with  his  father,  exercising 
his  talents  meanwhile  zealously  in  the  "Wesleyan  local  minis- 
try. He  continued  in  his  father's  firm  during  four  years,  but 
with  a  restless  spirit ;  for  his  ardent  heart  panted  for  entire  de- 
votion to  Christian  labors.  So  profound  was  his  conviction  of 
his  duty  in  this  respect  that  it  visibly  affected  him ;  and  his 
father,  prizing  him,  with  an  Englishman's  regard,  as  his  eldest 
son,  and  the  representative  of  his  family,  but  perceiving  that 
he  "must  go"  gave  him  up,  and  bade  him  depart  with  God's 
blessing.  Having  witnessed  the  labors  and  triumphs  of  the 
Methodist  preachers  on  this  continent,  he  resolved  to  join 
them,  and  forthwith  took  passage  for  Philadelphia.  After 
laboring  a  few  months  in  that  city  as  a  local  preacher,  he  was 
received  into  the  Philadelphia  Conference  in  1826.  He  con- 
tinued in  the  itinerant  ranks,  without  intermission,  the  remain- 
der of  his  life,  laboring  with  indomitable  •  energy,  and  con- 
stantly increasing  ability  and  success,  in  various  parts  of  Penn- 
sylvania, New  Jersey,  Maryland,  and  the  District  of  Columbia. 
He  was  slight,  but  sinewy  in  person,  and  capable  of  great 
endurance.  His  arms  were  long,  and  gave  a  striking  pecul- 
iarity to  his  gestures.  His  eye  was  keen  and  brilliant,  his 
craniological  development  good,  but  not  remarkable,  and  his 
lean  features  were  galvanic  with  an  energy  which,  English- 
man though  he  was,  never  allowed  any  obese  accumulations  to 
form  beneath  them.  Every  nerve  and  muscle  of  his  lithe 
frame  seemed  instinct  with  the  excitement  of  his  subject ;  even 
the  foot  often  had  its  energetic  gesture,  and  he  took  no  little 
perambulatory  range  when  the  limits  of  the  desk  or  platform 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  563 

allowed  it.  The  latter  was  his  favorite  place ;  never  did  pop- 
ular orator  revel  more  in  the  licensed  liberties  of  the  platform. 
All  his  powers  were  brought  out  there,  and  lavished  upon  the 
occasion  with  absolute  prodigality — strong  argumentation, 
dazzling  imagery,  satire,  pathos,  wit — holding  his  hearers  in 
a  spell  of  close,  clear  thought,  shaking  them  with  resistless 
strokes  of  humor,  melting  them  suddenly  into  tears,  or,  by 
some  energetic  or  heroic  thought,  throwing  the  whole  assem- 
bly into  tumultuous  agitation,  and  provoking  from  it  irrepres- 
sible responses.  If  at  such  times  his  manner  tended  to  bois- 
terousness,  it  seemed  compatible  with  the  scene :  the  zephyr 
may  refresh,  but  the  mighty  rushing  wind  shakes  and  bends 
the  forest. 

There  was  in  his  voice  a  strenuous,  silvery  distinctness,  and 
even  music,  which  enhanced  much  the  effect  of  his  more  pow- 
erful passages.  In  a  large  house,  or  at  a  camp-meeting,  where 
he  was  usually  the  hero  of  the  field,  he  could  send  its  pealing 
notes,  with  thrilling  effect,  to  the  remotest  hearer.  The  Hall 
of  Representatives,  at  Washington,  never  echoed  more  eloquent 
tones  or  more  eloquent  thoughts  than  when  he  occupied  its 
rostrum  during  his  chaplaincy  to  Congress.  He  was  peculiarly 
successful  in  these  congressional  ministrations.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  great  variety  of  character  and  prejudice  concentrated 
at  the  national  capital  during  the  legislative  sessions,  he  was 
a  universal  favorite.  All  men  about  him  felt  that  whether  in 
the  humble  Methodist  pulpit,  or  amid  the  magnificence  of  the 
national  capitol,  he  was  himself;  and  men  will  generally,  if 
not  always,  waive  their  personal  prejudices  in  the  presence  of 
talent  which  stands  forth  before  them  in  its  simple  genuine- 
ness and  sincerity.  Cookman's  sermons  before  Congress  were 
thoroughly  prepared  ;  they  were  often  truly  great,  but  directly 
to  the  purpose,  and  stamped  throughout  with  the  honest, 
earnest  individuality  of  the  man.  There  was  much  of  special 
adaptation  in  them.  He  was  always  apt  in  seizing  on  casual 
events  for  the  illustration  or  enforcement  of  his  subjects  :  but 
his  congressional  discourses  were  peculiarly  distinguished  by 
the  success  with  which  he  availed  himself  of  the  exciting  inci- 
dents of  the  place  and  season.     These  sermons  had  also  a  deep 


564  HISTORY   OF    THE 

moral  effect  as  well  as  oratorical  interest.  Several  of  his  dis- 
tinguished hearers,  both  in  Congress  and  in  the  executive 
department  of  the  government,  were  awakened  to  a  personal 
interest  in  religion  by  his  powerful  appeals. 

He  was  characterized  by  a  sort  of  chivalry,  a  martial  predi- 
lection, which  gave  him  real  bravery,  and  combative  prompt- 
ness and  energy.  This  was  one  of  the  strongest  elements  of 
his  nature.  The  military  events  which  stirred  all  Europe 
during  his  youth,  doubtless  had  an  influence  on  his  forming 
character.  Be  this  as  it  may,  there  was  a  military  fire  in  him 
which  nothing  could  extinguish,  and  which,  sanctified  by  re- 
ligion, gave  an  heroic  and  invincible  power  to  his  ministra- 
tions. It  influenced  his  imagery  and  his  very  language.  It 
revealed  itself  in  his  sermons,  in  his  exhortations,  his  very 
prayers,  and  most  especially  in  his  platform  addresses.  The 
first  of  the  latter  that  we  open  upon  in  his  published  "  Speech- 
es "  *  is  an  example.  It  marshals  the  different  evangelical 
sects  of  the  country  into  a  general  missionary  conflict,  and  is 
full  of  chivalric  spirit.  His  martial  temper  rendered  his 
assaults  on  error  formidably  vigorous.  He  liked  right  well  a 
manful  encounter,  and  relished  a  pungent  sarcasm,  or  a  humor- 
ous thrust  that  scattered  in  dismay  sophistry  or  skeptical  con- 
ceit. He  had  good  sense,  and  a  good  amount  of  it ;  but  his 
imagination  was  his  dominant  faculty.  It  furnished  him  in- 
cessantly with  brilliant  illustrations.  Besides  the  minute 
beauties  with  which  it  interspersed  his  ordinary  discourses,  it 
sometimes  led  him  into  allegories  which  might  have  enter- 
tained the  dreams  of  the  "tinker  of  Bedford."  The  martial 
Bible  Society  address  at  E"ew  Brunswick,  in  1828  ;  the  mission 
ship,  in  his  famous  Baltimore  Conference  speech  of  1829 ;  the 
,  widow  and  her  daughters,  in  his  American  Sunday-School 
Union  speech  of  1831 ;  and  the  personification  of  "Liberalism," 
(the  prodigal  son  of  the  "spy  Bigotry,")  in  his  New  York 
Sunday-school  address  of  1832,  are  examples.  It  can  hardly 
be  doubted  that  had  he  devoted  himself  to  the  production  of 

*  Speeches  delivered  on  Various  Occasions  by  Rev.  George  G-.  Cookman,  of  the 
Baltimore  Annual  Conference,  and  Chaplain  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 
New  York :  Carlton  &  Phillips,  200  Mulberry-street. 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  565* 

a  work  in  this  rare  and  difficult  .kind  of  literature,  he  might 
have  become  a  worthy  disciple  of  the  "glorious  dreamer  "  of 
Bedford  jail.  This  allegorizing  mood,  however,  befits  the  poet 
better  than  the  orator. 

In  his  private  life  he  had  many  attractions.  His  piety  was 
deep,  and  he  was  always  ready  for  any  good  word  or  work ; 
but  his  religion  never  interfered  with  his  enjoyment  of  life. 
He  relished  good  fellowship,  enlivening  conversation,  and  the 
entertainment  of  books.  He  adhered  through  life  to  the 
primitive  Methodist  costume.  It  was  not  the  most  graceful  for 
his  lank  person  ;  but  under  this  Quaker-like  external  primness 
he  carried  a  large  and  generous  heart — a  heart  which  seemed 
ever  juvenile  in  the  freshness  of  its  sentiments  and  the  ardor 
of  its  aspirations.  On  the  11th  of  March,  1841,  he  embarked 
for  Europe  in  the  ill-fated  steamer  President,  and  was  never 
heard  of  more. 

Stephen  Olin  stands  forth  with  commanding  prominence 
and  an  imperial  mien  among  the  princes  of  our  Israel.  He 
was  a  shining  light,  a  full  orb — if  not  the  most  notable,  yet, 
perhaps,  the  most  intrinsically  great  intellect  that  American 
Methodism  has  possessed.  So  manifest  and  commanding  were 
his  traits,  that  this  pre-eminence  can  be  awarded  him  without 
the  slightest  invidiousness.  He  was  chiefly  distinguished  as  a 
preacher  ;  though  he  chiefly  served  the  Church  as  an  educator, 
from  Georgia  to  Connecticut,  and  died  President  of  the  AVes- 
leyan  University  in  the  latter  State.  A  New  Englancler  by 
birth,  a  Southerner  by  long  residence,  a  professor  or  president 
of  colleges  in  both  sections,  he  became  a  national  character  in 
his  sentiments  and  influence. 

His  character— moral,  social  and  intellectual — was,  through- 
out, of  the  noblest  style.  In  the  first  respect  he  was  pre- 
eminent for  the  two  chief  virtues  of  true  religion— charity  and 
humility.  With  thorough  theological  orthodoxy  he  combined 
a  practical,  an  unusual  liberality.  There  was  not  an  atom 
of  bigotry  in  all  the  vast  soul  of  this  rare  man.  Meanwhile, 
it  could  be  said  of  him  as  was  said  of  Chalmers,  "  The  most 
astonishing  thing  about  him  was  his  humility."  He  was  one 
of  the  best  examples  of  that  childlike  simplicity  which  Christ 


566  HISTORY   OF   THE 

taught  as  essential  to  those  who  would  enter  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  and  which  Bacon  declared  to  be  equally  necessary 
to  "  those  who  would  enter  the  kingdom  of  knowledge."  Like 
Fisk,  he  was  a  personal  example  of  St.  Paul's  doctrine  of 
"  Christian  perfection  *  as  expounded  by  Wesley.  Eespecting 
the  Methodistic  hypothesis  of  that  doctrine  he  at  first  enter- 
tained doubts ;  but  as  he  advanced  in  life,  and  especially  under 
the  chastening  influence  of  affliction,  it  became  developed  in 
his  own  experience.  "  I  sunk  into  it,"  he  remarked.  "  My 
children,  my  wife,  my  health,  my  entire  prospect  pn  earth,  all 
were  gone — God  only  remained ;  I  lost  myself,  as  it  were,  in 
him,  I  was  hid  in'  him  with  Christ — and  found,  without  any 
process  of  logic,  but  by  an  experimental  demonstration,  the 
'  perfect  love  that  casteth  out  fear.'  "  He  was  never  obtrusive 
in  the  avowal  of  this  great  truth,  but  ever  ready  to  give,  with 
all  lowliness  and  meekness,  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  was 
within  him.  The  marvelous  grace  that  imbued  his  very 
greatness  with  unsurpassed  humility  was  owing,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  his  faith  in  this  sublime  idea  of  Christianity. 

His  social  character  was  attractive ;  he  was  ever  ready,  for 
not  merely  the  cheerful  remark,  but  the  exhilarating  pleas- 
antry. TStor  were  these  buoyant  intervals  rare  or  brief. 
Frequently  through  a  prolonged  but  always  fitting  conversa- 
tion, would  this  play  of  sunshine  illuminate  his  presence,  and 
with  it  would  intermix,  congruously,  often  most  felicitously,  a 
radiant  play  of  thought  or  a  happy  expression  of  Christian 
sensibility — never,  however,  the  meaningless  twaddle  of  weak- 
ness. A  truer  and  more  forbearing  friend  could  not  be  found. 
His  domestic  affections  were  warm,  and  the  circle  of  his 
family  was  a  sanctuary  full  of  hallowed  sympathies  and 
enjoyments. 

His  scholarship  was  more  exact  and  thorough  within  his  pro- 
fessional sphere,  than  varied  or  comprehensive  beyond  that 
limit.  At  his  graduation  he  was  considered  the  "ripest 
scholar  "  who  had  been  examined  in  his  college.  He  was  con- 
servative in  his  views  of  classical  education,  and  very  decid- 
edly opposed  to  the  "modernized"  system  of  training  at- 
tempted and  abandoned  by  some  American  colleges.     A  high 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  567 

and  finished  classical  discipline  was  his  ideal  for  the  college 
over  which  he  presided ;  and  that  institution  has  sent  out, 
under  his  superintendence,  as  thorough  students  as  have 
honored  the  education  of  the  land.  While  he  was  a  genuine 
scholar  within  his  appropriate  sphere,  he  possessed  also  a  large 
range  of  general  intelligence,  though  without  that  devotion  to 
any  favorite  department  of  extra-professional  knowledge  which 
often  relieves  and  adorns  the  professional  life  of  studious  men 
by  becoming  a  healthful  and  liberalizing  counterpart  to  their 
stated  routines  of  thought. 

"With  the  current  history  of  the  world  in  politics,  science, 
and  especially  religion,  he  had  more  than  the  usual  familiarity. 
A  remarkable  memory,  tenacious  of  even  statistics  and  names, 
doubtless  gave  him,  in  this  respect,  an  advantage  over  most 
intellectual  men.  The  original  powers  of  his  mind  were, 
however,  his  great  distinction.  And  these,  like  his  person, 
were  all  colossal — grasp,  strength,  with  the  dignity  which 
usually  attends  them,  a  comprehensive  faculty  of  generaliza- 
tion, which  presented  in  conclusive  logic  grand  summaries  of 
thought.  This  comprehensiveness,  combined  with  energy, 
was  his  chief  intellectual  characteristic  ;  under  the  inspiration 
of  the  pulpit  it  often  and  indeed  usually  became  sub- 
lime. It  may  be  doubted  whether  any  man  of  our  genera- 
tion has  had  more  power  in  the  pulpit  than  Stephen  Olin ; 
and  this  power  was  in  spite  of  very  marked  oratorical  defects. 
His  manner  was  ungainly;  his  gestures  quite  against  the 
elocutionary  rules ;  his  voice  badly  managed,  and  sometimes 
painful  in  its  heaving  utterances ;  but  the  elocutionist  is  not 
always  the  orator.  While  the  hearer  saw  that  there  was  no 
trickery  of  art  with  the  preacher,  he  felt  that  a  mighty,  an 
irresistible  mind  was  struggling  with  his  own.  He  was  over- 
whelmed—his reason  with  argument,  his  heart  with  emotion. 

When  he  began  his  discourse,  attention  was  immediately 
arrested  by  the  dignity  and  sterling  sense  of  his  thoughts.  It 
was  perceived  at  once  that  something  well  worth  most  careful 
attention  was  coming.  Paragraph  after  paragraph  of  massive 
thought  was  thrown  off,  each  showing  a  gradually  increasing 
glow  of  the  sensibility  as  well  as  the  mental  force  of  the 


568  HISTOKY    OF    THE 

speaker.  By  the  time  he  had  fairly  entered  into  the  argument 
of  the  sermon,  his  audience  was  led  captive  by  his  power ;  but 
it  would  be  difficult  to  say  which  was  most  subduing — his 
mighty  thoughts  or  his  deep  feeling.  Seldom  or  never  were 
tears  seen  in  his  own  eyes,  but  they  flowed  freely  down  the 
cheeks  of  his  hearers.  Ever  and  anon  passages  of  overwhelm- 
ing force  were  uttered,  before  which  the  whole  assembly  seemed 
to  bow,  not  so  much  in  admiration  of  the  man,  as  in  homage 
to  the  truth.  Such  passages  were  usually  not  poetic,  for  he 
was  remarkably  chary  of  his  imagery ;  but  they  were  ponder- 
ous with  meaning.  At  suitable  periods  of  the  sermon,  which 
usually  occupied  from  an  hour  and  a  half  to  two  hours,  he 
would  pause  briefly  to  relieve  his  voice  and  his  feelings.  The 
mental  tension  of  his  audience  could  be  perceived;  at  such 
times,  by  the  general  relaxation  of  posture,  and  the  simul- 
taneous, heaving  respiration ;  but  as  soon  as,  with  a  peculiar, 
measured  dignity,  he  resumed  the  lofty  theme,  all  eyes  were 
again  fixed,  all  minds  again  absorbed. 

Effective  as  was  his  preaching  usually,  it  was  not  always 
so.  His  ill-health  sometimes  spread  a  languor  over  his  spirit 
which  no  resolution  could  throw  off.  He  sometimes  alluded 
in  conversation  to  these  failures  with  much  good  nature,  and 
remarked  that  his  history  as  a  preacher  had  taught  him  to 
expect  the  blessing  of  God  on  even  such  efforts.  He  used  to 
relate  an  instance  which  occurred  during  his  ministry  in  South 
Carolina.  Preaching  at  a  camp-meeting  he  was  heard  by  a 
Presbyterian  clergyman,  who  was  to  address  the  next  session  of 
his  synod  in  Charleston,  and  who  repeated  there  not  only  the 
text,  but,  substantially,  the  sermon  before  his  clerical  brethren, 
giving,  however,  full  credit  to  its  Methodist  author.  So  re- 
markable a  fact  could  not  fail  to  excite  great  interest  among 
the  people  of  Charleston  to  hear  the  latter,  who,  at  this  time, 
occupied  the  Methodist  pulpit  of  that  city.  The  next  Sunday 
evening  his  church  was  crowded  with  the  elite  of  the  com- 
munity, including  several  clergymen.  He  preached  long,  and, 
as  he  thought,  loudly  and  confusedly;  and  felt,  at  the  close 
of  the  discourse,  confounded  with  mortification.  He  sank, 
after  the  benediction,  into  the  pulpit,  to  conceal  himself  from 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  569 

view  till  the  assembly  should  be  all  gone,  but  espied  some 
eminent  individuals  apparently  waiting  in  the  aisle  to  salute 
him.  His  heart  failed,  and  noticing  a  door  adjacent  to  the 
pulpit,  he  determined  to  escape  by  it.  He  knew  not  whither 
it  led,  but  supposed  it  communicated  with  the  next  house, 
which  had  once  been  a  parsonage,  as  he  recollected  having 
heard.  Hastening  to  the  door,  he  got  it  open,  and,  stepping 
out,  descended  abruptly  into  a  graveyard,  which  extended  be- 
yond and  behind  the  former  parsonage.  The  night  was  very 
dark,  and  he  stumbled  about  among  the  tombs  for  some 
time,  but  reached  at  last  the  wall  which  closed  the  cemetery 
in  from  the  street,  and  which  he  found  insurmountable. 
Groping  his  way  to  the  opposite  side,  he  sought  to  reach  a 
back  street  by  penetrating  through  one  of  the  gardens  which 
belonged  to  a  range  of  houses  there.  It  was  an  awkward  en- 
deavor in  the  darkness,  and  among  the  graves;  at  last  he 
found  a  wicket-gate,  but  had  no  sooner  passed  through  it  than 
he  was  assailed  by  a  house-dog.  Having  prevailed  in  this  en- 
counter, he  pushed  on  and  reached  the  street,  with  some  very 
reasonable  apprehensions  that  the  neighborhood  would  be 
alarmed  by  his  adventures.  He  now  threaded  his  way 
through  an  indirect  route  to  his  lodgings,  passed  unceremoni- 
ously to  his  chamber,  and  shut  himself  up  for  the  night, 
but  slept  little,  reflecting  with  deep  chagrin  on  the  strange 
conclusion  of  the  day.  On  the  morrow  he  hardly  dared  to 
venture  out ;  but  while  yet  in  his  study,  one  of  the  first  citi- 
zens in  Charleston,  and  a  leading  officer  in  a  sister  denomina- 
tion, called  at  the  house ;  he  was  admitted  to  the  preacher's 
study  with  reluctance ;  but  what  was  the  astonishment  of  the 
latter  to  hear  him  say  that  the  sermon  of  the  preceding  even- 
ing had  enabled  him  to  step  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  after 
many  years  of  disconsolate  endeavors,  during  which  he  had 
been  a  member  of  the  Church.  The  same  day  a  lady  of  influ- 
ential family  came  to  report  the  same  good  tidings.  Other 
similar  examples  occurred  that  morning ;  and  this  failure  was 
one  of  the  most  useful  sermons  of  his  ministry. 

His  style  was  somewhat  diffuse,  and  always  elaborate — too 
much  so  for  elegance.     Johnson  used  to  insist  that  his  own 


570  HISTORY    OF   THE 

pompous  Latinism  was  an  effect  of  the  magnitude  of  his 
thoughts ;  its  fantastic  collocation,  even  in  the  definitions  of 
his  dictionary,  stand  out,  however,  inexorably  and  grotesquely 
against  the  fond  conceit ;  the  critics  pronounce  his  verbiage  a 
result  of  his  early  study  of  Sir  .Thomas  Browne ;  but  false,  in 
part,  as  was  the  great  author's  apology,  it  was  also,  in  part,  true. 
He  had  a  magnitude  and  Koman-like  sturdiness  of  thought 
which  demanded  capacious  expression,  though  the  demand  was 
exaggerated,  and  thus  became  a  characteristic  fault,  as  well 
as  a  characteristic  excellence.  Olin's  style  was  affected  by  a 
similar  cause,  but  not  to  such  a  faulty  extent.  The  defect  was 
perceptible  in  his  ordinary  conversation,  and  quite  so  in  his  ex- 
temporaneous sermons.  In  some  of  his  later  writings,  however, 
like  Johnson  in  his  Lives  of  the  Poets,  he  seemed  to  escape 
the  excesses  while  he  retained  the  excellences  of  his  diction. 

He  was  gigantic  in  person.  His  frame  would  have  befitted 
a  Hercules ;  his  head  was  one  of  those  which  suggest  to  us 
superhuman  capacity,  and  by  which  the  classic  sculptors  sym- 
bolized the  majesty  of  their  gods.  His  gigantic  structure  was, 
however,  during  most  of  his  life,  smitten  through  and  through 
with  disease  and  enervation.  The  colossal  head  seemed  too 
heavy  to  be  supported,  and  appeared  to  labor  to  poise  itself. 
The  eye,  somewhat  sunken  in  its  large  socket,  presented  a 
languid  expression,  though  relieved  by  a  sort  of  religious  be- 
nignity which  often  beamed  with  feeling.  This  great  man 
must  be  added  to  the  long  and  melancholy  catalogue  of  self- 
martyred  students.  His  infirmities  commenced  in  his  college 
life ;  they  were  exasperated  by  his  labors  as  an  instructor  in  a 
southern  climate ;  and  they  were  the  burden  of  his  later  years, 
almost  to  the  exclusion  of  any  continuous  labors.  During 
these  years  his  usefulness  was  confined  mostly  to  occasional 
discourses,  some  of  which  have  been  published ;  to  the  quiet 
but  inestimable  moral  power  which  the  mere  official  presence 
of  such  a  man  cannot  fail  to  exert  over  any  responsibility  to 
which  he  is  related ;  and  last,  but  not  least,  to  the  ministration 
of  example  under  circumstances  of  suffering  and  personal 
religious  development. 

He  was  frankly  independent  in  his  opinions,  and  not  without 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  571 

what  would  be  called  strong  prejudices — no  uncommon  accom- 
paniment of  powerful  minds.  He  was  decidedly  conservative 
on  most  subjects,  though  early  disposed  to  political  liberalism. 
He  inclined  to  stringent  institutions  of  government  in  both 
Church  and  State,  but  at  the  same  time  deemed  the  polity 
of  his  own  Church  susceptible  of  many  liberal  changes,  in 
order  to  adapt  it  to  what  he  considered  the  demands  of  the 
times.  He  was  especially  interested  in  the  intellectual  im- 
provement of  her  ministry,  and  was  one  of  the  warmest,  friends 
of  theological  education.  Before  a  theological  school  was 
begun  in  the  Church  he  wrote  home  from  London,  where  he 
witnessed  the  experiment  among  the  Wesley ans,  a  public 
letter,  urging  the  subject  upon  the  attention  of  the  denomina- 
tion, and  inclosing  a  considerable  donation  toward  it.  He 
believed  this,  indeed,  to  be  the  capital  want  of  Methodism  in 
our  day,  and  never  disguised  the  conviction  amid  any  prejudice 
to  the  contrary.  He  entertained  sublime  views  of  its  mission- 
ary resources,  and  longed  and  labored  to  see  its  energies  amply 
brought  out'  and  applied  to  this  great  work,  especially  in  the 
foreign  field.  The  evangelization  of  the  world  he  deemed  an 
achievement  quite  practicable  to  Protestant '  Christendom. 
Some  of  his  discourses  on  the  subject  were  signal  efforts  of  in- 
tellect and  eloquence. 

On  the  night  of  the  15th  of  August,  1851,  a  small  and  silent 
circle  stood  at  the  death-bed  of  this  good  and  great  man.  The 
herculean  frame  lay  helpless  and  heaving  in  the  last  struggle. 
"  I  hope  in  Christ,"  (pointing  with  his  finger  upward,)  "Tnost 
certainly,  in  Christ  alone.  I  believe  I  shall  be  saved,  though 
as  by  fire,"  were  among  the  last  utterances  of  the  dying  suf- 
ferer. Early  the  next  morning  he  was  no  more  among  men. 
He  had  been  twenty-seven  years  in  the  ministry. 

Thus  have  some  of  the  most  notable  characters  of  the  denom- 
ination in  this  period  passed  in  review  before  us.  Others  might 
be  selected  from  the  dead;  and  there  are,  among  the  living, 
those  who  will  take  rank  with  such  as  I  have  recorded.  But 
we  are  necessarily  restricted  to  examples.  Olin  was  unquestion- 
ably the  greatest,  but  Fisk  the  most  perfect  man  in  this,  class, 
the  former  had  both  the  largest  and  strongest  intellectual 


572  HISTOEY    OF  .THE 

grasp,  the  latter  more  versatility  and  practical  skill.  Olin  had 
the  highest,  the  philosophic  genius ;  and  if  his  health  had 
allowed  him  a  productive  life,  he  would  have  taken  »rank 
where,  by  the  title  of  his  genius,  he  really  belonged — among 
the  first  men  of  his  day :  Fisk  had  talent  and  tact  rather  than 
genius ;  he  was  the  practical  though  not  the  technical  logician 
in  both  speculation  and  in  life.  Olin  had  very  little  of  the 
detail  of  practical  logic,  but  in  him  the  higher  logic,  the  faculty 
of  generalization,  was  predominant ;  it  gave  grandeur  to  his 
habitual  conceptions,  though  it  could  not  take  those  minute 
cognizances  of  events  or  truths  which  afforded  Fisk  an  habitual 
mastery  over  any  position  in  which  he  found  himself  placed, 
and  gave  more  perfect  proportions  to  the  development  of  his 
character.  Cookman  had  neither  the  philosophic  comprehen- 
siveness of  the  one  nor  the  practical  skill  of  the  other,  but 
more  mental  alertness  and  energy  than  either.  Olin  could  have 
best  planned  the  policy  of  a  state ;  Fisk  could  have  planned 
best  the  movements  of  its  army ;  Cookman  could  have  best 
executed  those  movements.  Cookman  had  much  of  Bascom's 
imagination.  His  nature  was  too  hardy,  too  Saxon,  to  admit 
of  any  resemblance  to  Summerfield.  His  allegorical  skill  was 
all  his  own.  Summerfield's  position  in  the  group  hardly  ad- 
mits of  comparison.  He  had  none  of  Olin's  intellectual 
breadth,  little  of  Fisk's  tactical  skill,  not  much  more  of  Cook- 
man's  energetic  vivacity  or  of  Bascom's  imagination.  His  dis- 
tinction was  almost  entirely  one  of  temperament,  a  tempera- 
menfeto  which  was  subordinated,  in  the  happiest  manner  pos- 
sible, all  his  powers  of  intellect  and  of  expression.  His  soul 
was  not  in  his  head,  but  in  his  heart.  Never  was  the  power 
of  a  public  speaker  more  pure,  more  anomalous.  It  was  not 
the  power  of  logic,  proceeding  from  the  intellect ;  it  was  not 
poetic  power,  proceeding  from  the  imagination  ;  nor  did  it  flow 
from  the  passions :  it  was  a  moral  magnetism,  a  gentle  suasive 
effluence  from  the  inmost  life  of  the  man.  His  biographer, 
though  he  claims  for  him  justly  a  second-rate  kind  of  "  genius," 
declares  the  "predominating"  qualities  of  his  mind  to  have 
been  "  good  sense  and  good  taste."  Undoubtedly  this  was  the 
case;    but  these  qualities  do  not  solve  the  problem  of  his 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  573 

power.  There  are  thousands  of  men  who  have  "  good  sense 
and  good  taste,"  but  who  have  no  such  power.  It  proceeded, 
as  has  been  affirmed,  from  his  peculiar  and  sanctified  tern* 
perament;  his  "  intense  animal  feeling,"  as  Montgomery 
somewhat  equivocally  calls  it;  and  his  "good  sense  and  good 
taste  "  were  but  its  regulators. 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  superior  intellects  which  have  arisen 
within  the  pale  of  Methodism,  and  thus  has  its  ministerial 
system  been  found  suited  to  the  highest  pulpit  talent,  and 
at  the  same  time  capable  of  rallying  and  directing  the  ruder 
energies  of  thousands  of  uncultivated  laborers,  making  them, 
by  its  peculiar  discipline,  "workmen  that  need  not  to  be 
ashamed,"  and  covering  the  continent  with  the  fruits  and  signs 
of  their  apostleship. 


574  HISTORY   OF  THE 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

CENTENARY  JUBILEE  :   RESULTS,  AND  THEIR  CAUSES. 

A  great  occasion  drew  near ;  the  hnndreth  year  of  the  cause 
which,  beginning  in  such  feebleness,  had  achieved  such  tri- 
umphs, and  had  now  attained  national  ascendency  in  the  pop- 
ular religious  faith  of  the  country.  Though  the  Republic  was 
still  surging  with  an  unparalleled  civil  war,  the  Church,  which 
had  given  to  its  battle-fields  a  hundred  thousand  of  her  chil- 
dren, staggered  not  with  a  momentary  doubt  of  the  issue  of 
the  struggle,  or  of  the  destiny  of  the  country.  Both  had  seen 
a  great  past,  both  expected  a  greater  future.  The  General 
Conference  of  1864  assembled  in  Philadelphia  May  1st,  amid 
the  continued  tumults  of  the  war,  but  with  hymns  of  triumph. 
It  received  the  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  patriotic 
services  of  the  denomination,  from  the  President  of  the  Repub- 
lic, and  proceeded  confidently  to  ordain  beneficent  celebrations 
of  the  triumphs  of  the  Church,  and  to  provide  for  still  larger 
triumphs.  It  reinforced,  by  one  third,  its  Episcopate,  for  it 
believed  that  it  must  soon  resume  its  old  undivided  national 
diocese,  from  Canada  to  the  Mexican  Gulf.  It  established  a 
"Church  Extension  Society,"  for  it  doubted  not  that  the 
"  waste  places  "  of  the  war  were  soon  to  be  resupplied  with 
chapels,  and  that  the  frontier  domains  were  about  to  open 
more  largely  than  ever.  It  placed  in  its  organic  law  an  un- 
conditional prohibition  of  slavery.  It  repeated  substantially 
its  former  expression  of  a  willingness  to  regard  the  wish  of 
its  people  respecting  Lay  Representation,  should  it  become 
manifest  that  a  majority  of  them  demanded  such  a  change 
in  its  Constitution.  It  extended  the  term  of  ministerial 
appointments  from  two  to  three  years.  But  not  the  least 
important  of  its  measures  had  reference  to  the  practical 
improvement  of  the  approaching  Centenary  Jubilee.     By  dis- 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  575 

cussions  in  committee  and  in  the  Conference  a  munificent 
scheme  for  its  celebration,  and  a  u  Centenary  "  Committee  of 
twelve  preachers,  an  equal  number  of  laymen,  and  all  the 
bishops,  to  mature  and  prosecute  the  scheme,  were  provided.  It 
adjourned,  hoping  that  two  millions  of  dollars  might  be  thus  ob- 
tained in  commemoration  of  this  first  hundred  years  of  success, 
and  in  preparation  for  the  achievements  of  another  century. 

The  Centenary  Committee  met  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  Feb- 
ruary 22,  1865,  and  issued  a  plan  of  contributions,  most  of 
which  were  to  be  devoted  to  education,  in  the  domestic 
field,  in  Germany,  and  in  Ireland.  The  whole  Church  was 
placed  by  districts  under  Centenary  sub-committees.  The  first 
Sunday  in  the  jubilee  year  was  given  to  discourses  in  promo- 
tion of  its  beneficent  designs.  The  successive  Annual  Confer- 
ences had  special  Centenary  sermons  delivered  to  crowded 
audiences.  Two  "  Centenary  Books,1'  and  a  series  of  "  Cente- 
nary Tracts,"  were  issued.  Centenary  meetings  were  held  in 
the  cities  and  large  towns,  with  a  continually  rising  interest 
and  unexpectedly  large  subscriptions  of  funds,  till  the  last  Sun- 
day of  October,  when  the  Church  throughout  its  thousands  of 
Societies  finally  celebrated  the  great  occasion  with  love-feasts? 
discourses,  and  pecuniary  contributions.  Instead  of  two  mill- 
ions of  dollars,  which  at  the  beginning  was  deemed  an  extreme 
amount,  more  than  five  millions  were  pledged.*  At  the  Cen- 
tenary of  Wesleyan  Methodism,  in  1839,  the  American  Church 
had  given  about  half  a  million  ;  the  difference  made  by  about 
a  quarter  of  a  century  was  proof  of  the  growth  of  the  denom- 
ination in  resources  as  well  as  numbers. 

But  its  general  statistics,  as  exhibited  in  its  Centenary  cele- 
bration, afforded  more  imposing  proofs.  On  this  memorable 
occasion  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  alone  was  to  see  a 
full  million  of  communicants  within  its  pale,f  and  in  its  con- 
gregations four  millions  of  the  population  of  the  Kepublic. 
But  it  had  become  several  bands ;  yet  all  were  identical,  save 
in  some  points  of  ecclesiastical  polity.     Its  first  assembly,  in 

*  Five  millions  have  been  officially  reported,  but  the  Conference  reports  have 
not  yet  (October,  1867)  been  completed, 
f  They  amounted  to  1,032,184. 


576  HISTORY   OF    THE 

Embury's  private  house,  had  multiplied  to  thousands  and  tens 
of  thousands  of  congregations ;  its  first  chapel,  of  1768,  to  at 
least  twenty  thousand  churches,  studding  the  continent  from 
the  northernmost  settlements  of  Canada  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  Its  first  two  classes  of  1766, 
recording  six  or  seven  members  each,  were  now  -represented 
by  2,000,000  communicants;*  its  first  congregation  of  iive 
persons  by  about  8,000,000  of  people ;  its  three  local  preach- 
ers, Embury,  Strawbridge,  and  Webb,  who  founded  the  whole 
cause,  by  at  least  15,000  successors  in  their  own  order  of  the 
ministry ;  its  first  two  itinerants,  Boardman  and  Pilmoor,  who 
reached  the  New  World  in  1769,  by  about  14,000  traveling 
preachers ;  its  first  educational  institution,  opened  in  1787,  by 
nearly  200  colleges  and  academies,  with  an  army  of  32,000 
students ;  its  first  Sunday-school,  started  by  Asbury  in  1786, 
by  at  least  20,000  schools,  200,000  teachers,  and  over  1,500,000 
scholars ;  its  first  periodical  organ,  begun  in  1818,  after  a  pre- 
vious failure,  by  thirty  periodical  publications,  the  best  patron- 
ized and  among  the  most  effective  in  the  nation;  its  first 
Book  Concern,  with  its  borrowed  capital  of  $600,  begun  in 
1789,  by  four  or  &ve  similar  institutions  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada.  The  festivities  of  the  centenary  jubilee  of  the 
denomination  were  to  be  tempered,  as  well  as  enhanced,  by 
the  startling  fact  that  it  bore  the  chief  responsibility  of  Protest- 
antism in  the  New  World,  its  aggregate  membership  being 
about  half  the  Protestant  communicants  of  the  country,  its 
congregations  between  one  fifth  and  one  fourth  of  the  national 
population ;  and  that,  if  the  usual  estimate,  by  geographers, 
of  the  Protestant  population  of  the  globe  (80,000,000)  is  cor- 
rect, American  Methodism,  with  its  eight  millions  of  people, 
is  responsible  for  one  tenth  (with  general  Methodism,  for  one 
seventh)  the  interest  and  fate  of  the  Protestant  world. 

The  influence  of  this  vast  ecclesiastical  force  on  the  general 
progress  of  the  New  World  can  neither  be  doubted  nor  meas- 
ured. It  is  generally  conceded  that  it  has  been  the  most  en- 
ergetic religious  element  in  the  social  development  of  the  con- 

*  I  give  the  aggregates  of  the  different  Methodist  bodies  in  America.  The  de- 
tails can  be  found  in  the  "Centenary  Book,"  cited  mostly  from  official  sources. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  577 

tinent.  With  its  devoted  and  enterprising  people  dispersed 
through  the  whole  population  ;  its  thousands  of  laborious  itin- 
erant preachers,  and  still  larger  hosts  of  local  preachers  and 
exhorters;  its  unequaled  publishing  agencies  and  powerful 
periodicals,  from  the  Quarterly  Eeview  to  the  child's  paper ; 
its  hundreds  of  colleges  and  academies ;  its  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  Sunday-school  instructors ;  its  devotion  to  the  lower 
and  most  needy  classes,  and  its  animated  modes  of  worship 
and  religious  labor,  there  can  hardly  be  a  question  that  it  has 
been  a  mighty,  if  not  the  mightiest,  agent  in  the  maintenance 
and  spread  of  Protestant  Christianity  over  these  lands. 

The  problem  (so  called)  of  this  unequaled  success  has  been 
the  subject  of  no  little  discussion ;  but  we  may  well  hesitate  to 
admit  that  there  is  any  such  problem.  I  have  failed  to  inter- 
pret aright  the  whole  preceding  record  if  it  does  not  present, 
on  almost  every  page,  intelligible  reasons  of  its  extraordinary 
events.  A  principal  error  in  most  of  the  discussions  of  this 
alleged  problem  has  been  the  attempt  to  find  some  one  fact  or 
reason  as  its  explanation.  The  problem  (if  such  it  may  be  ad- 
mitted to  be)  is  complex,  and  no  single  fact  can  suffice  for  its 
solution.  Doubtless  the  theology  of  Methodism  has  had  a  potent 
influence  on  its  history — its  Arminianism,  its  doctrines  of  Ee- 
generation,  the  Witness  of  the  Spirit,  and  Sanctification.  But 
it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  Calvinistic  Methodism  was, 
during  most  of  the  last  century,  as  energetic  as  Arminian  Meth- 
odism. It  is  as  much  so  to-day  in  Wales,  where  it  presents  the 
best  example  of  Sabbath  observance  and  Church  attendance  in 
the  Christian  world.  Whitefield  was  an  ardent  Calvinist,  but 
was  he  less  a  Methodist,  less  a  flaming  evangelist  than  Wesley  ? 
Moravianism  shared  the  theology  of  Methodism,  especially  its 
most  vital,  most  experimental  doctrines ;  but  not  its  prosperity. 
Indisputably  one  of  the  greatest  responsibilities  of  the  denom- 
ination, for  the  future,  is  the  maintenance  and  diffusion  of  its 
theology;  but  this  cannot  be  assigned  as  the  single,  or  the 
special  cause  of  its  success. 

The  legislative  genius  of  Wesley,  the  practical  system  of 

Methodism,  has  been  pronounced  the  chief  cause  of  its  progress; 

it  has  been,  doubtless,  hardly  less  important  than  its  theology ;. 

37 


578  HISTORY    OF    THE 

we  have  seen  its  power  throughout  this  whole  narrative.  But 
neither  of  them  explains  the  problem,  for  neither  of  them,  nor 
both  together,  could  have  succeeded  without  something  else. 
The  whole  Methodistic  system,  introduced  into  some  of  our 
comparatively  inert  modern  denominations,  could  only  result 
in  a  prodigious  failure.  Could  they  tear  up  their  ministerial 
families  by  the  roots  every  two  or  three  years,  and  scatter  them 
hither  and  thither?  Could  they  drive  out  their  comfortably 
domiciled  pastors  to  wander  over  the  land  without  certain 
homes  or  abiding  places,  preaching  night  and  day,  year  in  and 
year  out  ?  Could  they  throw  their  masses  of  people  into  class 
meetings  for  weekly  inspection  respecting  their  religious  prog- 
ress or  declension?  The  system,  momentous  as  it  has  been, 
presupposes  prior  and  infinitely  more  potential  conditions. 

If  we  must  narrow  the  explanation  to  the  fewest  possible 
conditions,  it  may  be  said  that  there  have  been  two  chief  causes 
of  the  success  of  Methodism,  one  primary,  the  other  proximate. 
First,  it  was  a  necessity  of  the  times,  a  providential  provision 
for  the  times.  The  government  of  God  over  our  world  is  a 
unit ;  the  history  of  his  Church  is  a  unit ;  and  however  unable 
we  may  still  be  to  correlate  its  divers  parts,  yet  in  ages  to  come, 
perhaps  after  hundreds  of  ages,  the  world  will  behold  its  per- 
fect symmetry.  History,  if  not  as  much  under  the  sway  of 
laws  as  physics,  is  nevertheless  a  providential  process.  The 
apostolic  ministry  founded  the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  world, 
but  the  apostles  themselves  predicted  the  rise  of  Antichrist  and 
the  great  "  falling  away."  The  medieval  night,  a  thousand 
years  lostg,  followed ;  the  Renaissance,  with  the  Reformation, 
began  the  modern  history  of  the  world.  The  Reformation 
proclaimed  the  right  and  responsibility  of  the  individual  con- 
science in  the  interpretation  of  the  word  of  God,  and  repro- 
claimed  the  apostolic  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith.  It  went 
far,  if  not  so  far  as  it  might  have  gone ;  but  in  the  eighteenth 
century  its  progressive  power  seemed  about  exhausted.  It  had 
made  no  great  territorial  advancement  after  about  its  first  half 
century,  and  in  the  eighteenth  century  the  Historical  Criticism 
and  Rationalism  arose,  and,  with  the  prevailing  popular  de- 
moralization, threatened,  as  Burnet  affirms,  not  only  the  Angli- 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CnURCH.  579 

» 

can  Church,  but  "  the  whole  Reformation."  It  had  become 
necessary  that  some  new  development  of  Christianity  should 
take  place.  It  was  a  providential  necessity,  and  God  provided 
for  it.  At  this  very  period  of  apparent  danger  Christendom  was 
in  the  travail  of  a  new  birth.  The  American  and  French  Eevo- 
lutions  were  drawing  near.  The  most  important  phases  of  the 
civilized  world  were  to  be  transformed.  Science,  commerce, 
government,  religion  were  to  pass  into  a  new  cycle,  perhaps 
their  final  cycle.  The  revolution  in  religion  was  to  be  as  con- 
spicuous as  any  other  change  in  the  grand  process.  The  rights 
of  conscience  were  to  be  more  fully  developed ;  the  separation 
of  the  Church  from  the  State,  and  the  "voluntary  principle," 
were  to  be  introduced.  For  the  first  time  in  recorded  history 
was  about  to  be  seen  the  spectacle  of  a  great  nation  without  a 
State  religion.  Medieval  dogmatism  was  to  be  more  fully 
thrown  into  abeyance ;  ecclesiasticism  and  hierarchism  to  re- 
ceive a  shock  under  which  they  might  still  reel  for  a  while,  but 
only  to  fall,  sooner  or  later,  to  their  proper  subordination  or 
desuetude.  The  permanent,  essential  principles,  not  so  much 
of  theology  (so  called)  as  of  religion,  were  to  revive  with  the 
power  of  their  apostolic  promulgation.  Missions,  Sunday- 
schools,  Bible  societies,  popular  religious  literature,  all  those 
powers  which  I  have  affirmed  to  have  arisen  with  Methodism, 
were  to  come  into  activity  in  the  religious  world  co-ordinately 
with  the  new  energies  of  the  secular  world.  The  Church,  in 
fine,  was  anew  to  become  a  living,  working  organism,  and  to 
be  not  only  the  Church  of  the  present,  but,  probably,  the 
Church  of  the  future.  The  old  questions  of  rationalistic  bib- 
lical criticism  and  of  ecclesiasticism  were  not  to  be  immediately 
laid,  but  they  were  to  become  only  occasional  incidents  to  the 
Christian  movement  of  the  new  age.  Colenso  and  the  Essay- 
ists, Pusey  and  the  Oxford  Papal  tendencies,  were  yet  to  ap- 
pear, but  not  seriously  to  obstruct  the  march  of  evangelical 
truth.  Methodism  had  its  birth  at  the  date  of  Kationalism  in 
Germany.  The  biblical  criticism  of  Colenso  and  the  Essayists 
was  anticipated  in  the  writings  of  Bolingbroke  and  other  En- 
glish authors  before  Methodism  had  fairly  started.  That  criti- 
cism is  much  older.     Spinoza's  Politico-Theological  Treatise  is 


580  HISTOKY    OF   THE 


almost  entirely  made  up  of  it — in  many  respects  a  much  abler 
discussion  than  modern  English  doubt  has  produced.  We 
know  not  how  far  this  critical  skepticism  may  yet  go;  we 
know  not  what,  if  any,  demonstrations  it  may  reach ;  but  one 
thing  we  absolutely  know,  that  the  ethical  purity  which  speaks 
in  the  Gospel — the  spiritual  life  which  filled  the  primitive 
Church  with  saints,  heroes,  martyrs,  and  which  is  now  filling 
the  Christian  world  with  good  works,  sanctified  homes,  and 
peaceful  death-beds — can  never  be  overthrown  ;  that  against  a 
living,  loving,  working  Church  the  gates  of  hell  can  never  pre- 
vail ;  and  that  the  very  existence  of  such  a  Church  presupposes 
the  coexistence  of  all  essential  theology.  The  production  of 
such  a  Church  was  the  special  providential  appointment  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  a  "continuous  revival"  of  spiritual  life,  as 
Wesley  was  able  to  say  after  fifty  years,  in  the  Old  World ;  a 
still  continued  "revival,"  as  we  are  able  to  say  to-day,  after  a 
hundred  years,  in  the  New  World.  If  we  may  not  venture  to 
affirm  that  Methodism,  distinctively  so  called,  is  this  modern 
development  of  Christianity,  we  need  not  hesitate  to  say,  with 
Isaac  Taylor,  that  the  religious  movement  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  called  Methodism — Calvinistic  and  Arminian — is  its 
true  historical  exponent — "the  event  whence  the  religious 
epoch  now  current  must  date  its  commencement." 

Such  was  the  providential  origin  of  Methodism,  such  the 
primary  condition  of  its  success.  But  what  was  its  other  chief, 
or  proximate  cause  % 

The  "  Holy  Club  "  was  founded  at  Oxford,  and  the  title  of 
Methodism  given  to  it  in  1729,  ten  years  before  the  recognized 
epoch  of  the  religious  movement  which  it  was  to  introduce. 
The  Wesleys,  Whitefield,  and  other  mighty  men  were  then  or 
soon  after  in  it ;  but  they  had  no  notable  success,  for  they  had 
not  yet  received  "  power  from  on  high."  The  Wesleys  came 
to  America,  and  labored  faithfully  here,  but  still  without  suc- 
cess, and  they  returned  home  defeated.  Something  was  yet 
needed.  They  preached  and  suffered  in  England,  but  still 
without  appreciable  effect.  As  Methodism  was  to  be  the  next 
great  stage  of  religious  progress,  after  the  Keformation,  it  was 
to  have  affinity  with  the  Keformation.     The  salient  doctrinal 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  581 

fact  of  the  Eeformation  was  justification  by  faith.  "Wesley  had 
been  feeling  after  this  as  in  the  dark  during  all  these  ten  years  ; 
but  now,  by  the  very  writings  in  which  Luther  had  declared  it 
at  the  Reformation,  he  was  to  find  it.  On  the  24th  of  May, 
1738,  sitting  in  a  little  religious  meeting  in  Aldersgate-street, 
and  listening  to  the  reading  of  Luther's  preface  to  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans,  the  great  truth  flashed  upon  his  soul.  "  I  felt,'' 
he  writes,  "  my  heart  strangely  warmed ;  an  assurance  was 
given  me  that  He  had  taken  away  my  sins,  even  mine,  and 
saved  me  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death."  Here  is  the  proxi- 
mate cause  of  all  the  Methodism  in  the  world  to-day,  for  this 
was  the  u  dispensation  of  the  Spirit,"  which  has  since  continued 
in  a  baptism  of  fire  upon  the  Churches.  On  that  memorable 
night  genuine  Methodism  had  its  birth.  What  would  have 
been  Wesley's  theological  opinions  without  this  quickening  of 
the  Spirit  ? — Tenets  only  of  the  brain,  exciting  him  to  unavail- 
ing struggles,  as  they  had  for  ten  years.  What  his  practical 
system,  had  he  even  been  able  to  devise  it,  but  a  wretched 
failure,  from  which  he  and  his  people  would  soon  have  recoiled, 
as  from  a  burden  intolerable  to  be  borne  %  This  new  spiritual 
life,  this  "strange"  warmth  of  the  heart,  made  his  theology 
vital,  his  system  practicable;  gave  power  and  demonstration 
to  his  preaching,  and  spread  like  contagion  through  his  assem- 
blies. It  intoned  their  hymns,  and  kindled  their  prayer-meet- 
ings, band-meetings,  classes,  and  love-feasts.  The  manner  of 
its  inspiration,  the  time  of  its  experience,  its  effects  and  evi- 
dences, and  the  extent  to  which  it  could  be  perfected,  became 
the  themes  of  discourse  in  their  meetings  and  in  their  familiar 
converse  all  through  the  British  realm.  Conversion,  the  Wit- 
ness of  the  Spirit,  and  Sanctification,  were  but  its  corollary 
truths.  It  inspired  men  to  enter  the  ministry,  it  inspired  their 
preaching,  and  produced  the  peculiar  power  of  their  preaching, 
and  of  all  their  denominational  methods,  as  witnessed  through- 
out the  world.  Without  it  almost  everything  else  that  is  char- 
acteristically Methodistic  would  have  been  not  only  ineffective 
but  impracticable.  The  multitudes,  the  very  mobs,  recognized 
this  power  of  personal  religion,  this  divine  power  and  glory  of 
the  regenerated  man  in  the  representatives  of  the  new  move- 


582  HISTORY    OF   THE 

merit ;  they  saw  it  in  their  countenances,  in  their  tears,  and 
heard  it  in  their  tones.  It  was  the  magical  power  by  which 
they  controlled  riots,  and  led  persecutors  in  weeping  proces- 
sions from  the  highways  and  market-places  to  the  altars  of 
their  humble  chapels.  It  it  be  inquired  what  has  been  the 
one  chief  force  in  the  success  of  Methodism,  and  what  is  the 
chief  power  for  its  future  success,  I  reply,  it  is  this  "power 
from  on  high,"  this"  unction  from  the  Holy  One." 

Such,  I  think,  were  the  primary  and  proximate  conditions 
of  its  success.  There  were  also  many  others  doubtless:  its 
catholicity;  the  subordination,  not  to  say  insignificance,  to 
which  it  reduced  all  exclusive  or  arrogant  ecclesiastic  preten- 
sions; the  importance  which  it  gave  to  good  and  charitable 
works  while  insisting  on  a  profound  personal,  if  not  a  mystic 
piety ;  the  unprecedented  co-operation  of  the  laity  with  the 
clergy  in,  at  least,  religious  labors  which  it  established ;  the 
activity  of  women  in  its  social  devotions;  these,  and  still 
more. 

I  mention  further  but  one,  and  particularly  because  it 
affords  an  important  admonitory  lesson — the  character  of  its 
chiefs.  And  I  mean  not  merely  their  greatness.  They  were 
indeed  great  men,  as  the  world  is  beginning  to  acknowledge : 
Whitefleld,  the  greatest  of  modern  preachers;  Wesley,  the 
greatest  of  religious  organizers ;  Asbury,  unquestionably  the 
greatest  character  in  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  this  hemi- 
sphere, judged  by  the  results  of  his  labors.  But  it  was  not  so 
much  by  their  great  abilities,  as  by  qualities  in  which  all  may 
share,  that  they  made  Methodism  what  it  is.  Its  leaders  were 
its  exemplars,  and  that  fact  expresses  more  of  the  philosophy 
of  its  history  than  any  other  except  that  of  the  "  baptism  from 
on  high."  There  is  no  human  power  above  that  of  character. 
The  character,  not  the  genius,  of  Washington  has  made  him 
chief  among  the  military  or  civic  sons  of  men.  The  character 
of  a  military  leader  can  make  a  whole  army  an  array  of  heroes 
or  a  melee  of  cowards.  The  army  of  the  Shenandoah  was  roll- 
ing back  shattered  and  hopeless ;  but  when  its  chief  arrived 
on  his  foaming  steed,  after  that  long  and  solitary  ride,  it 
stood  forth  again  invincible ;  the  drawing  of  his  single  sword 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH.  583 

before  it,  flashed  lightning  along  all  its  bayonets  and  banners, 
and  it  dealt  back  the  blow  which  sent  the  enemy  reeling  irre- 
coverably to  destruction.  The  greatest  of  talents  is  character, 
and  character  is  the  most  attainable  of  talents. 

Had  John  Wesley,  when  his  canse  was  somewhat  established, 
retired  from  his  self-sacrificing  labors,  and  acted  the  dignified, 
well-endowed  prelate  in  City  Koad  parsonage,  his  whole  system 
would  soon  have  fallen  through.  By  traveling  more,  laboring 
more,  and  suffering  more  than  any  of  his  preachers,  he  kept 
them  all  heroically  traveling,  laboring,  suffering.  Asbury 
kept  Methodism  astir  throughout  this  nation  by  hastening  from 
Georgia  to  Massachusetts  on  horseback,  yearly,  for  nearly  half 
a  century,  preaching  daily.  None  of  his  preachers  exceeded 
him  in  even  the  humblest  labors  of  the 'ministry.  His  power 
was  military,  and  he  used  it  with  military  energy ;  but,  as  has 
been  shown,  he  imposed  on  the  ministry  no  task  that  he  did 
not  himself  exemplify.  Under  his  command  the  Conferences 
moved  as  columns  in  the  field  of  battle,  for  they  knew  that 
their  leader  would  be  in  the  thickest  fight,  would  be  chief  in 
suffering  and  labor  as  in  authority  and  honor.  Asbury's  daily 
life  was  a  challenge  to  the  humblest  of 'them  to  endure  all 
things.  It  became  a  point  of  chivalric  honor  among  them  to 
evade  no  labor  or  suffering ;  they  consented  to  be  tossed  from 
Baltimore  to  Boston,  from  Boston  to  beyond  the  Alleghanies. 
How  would  all  this  have  been  changed  if  Asbury,  at  his 
episcopal  ordination,  had  housed  himself  in  Baltimore,  repos- 
ing on  his  dignity,  and  issuing  his  commands,  without  exem- 
plifying them !  The  Church  should  understand,  then,  that  its 
great  men  must  be  great  workers  in  whatever  sphere  they  oc- 
cupy; that  this  is  a  requisite  of  the  age,  and  has  always 
been  a  requisite  of  Methodism.  An  itinerant  superintendency 
or  episcopacy  has  ever  been  a  favorite  idea  of  its  people. 
They  have  instinctively  perceived  its  importance;  and  the 
founders  of  the  Church  declared  in  its  constitutional  law  that 
the  General  Conference  shall  not  "  change  or  alter  any  part  or 
rule  of  our  government  so  as  ...  to  destroy  the  plan  of  our 
itinerant  superintendency."  The  unity  of  the  denomination, 
the  fellowship  of  the  Churches,  their  co-operation  in  great 


584  HISTORY   OF    THE 

common  undertakings,  and  the  self-sacrificing  spirit  of  the 
ministry  generally,  have  been  largely  attributable  to  this  fact 
of  their  system,  a  fact  peculiar  to  Methodism  among  Episcopal 
Churches. 

With  changes  of  time  must  come  changes  of  policy,  if  not 
changes  of  what  have  been  deemed  fundamental  opinions. 
Methodism  has,  through  most  of  its  history,  been  taking  on 
new  adaptations.  Unrestricted  by  any  dogmatism  whatever  in 
ecclesiastical  polity,  and  less  restricted,  as  we  have  seen,  by 
theological  creeds,  than  any  other  evangelical  Church,  it 
stands  unshackled  for  its  future  career.  That  it  will  change, 
that  it  has  changed,  cannot  be  doubted ;  but  devoting  itself,  as 
it  has  been  increasingly,  to  the  elevation  of  its  people,  to 
education,  literature,  liberty,  civil  and  religious,  missions,  the 
amelioration  of  its  own  acknowledged  defects,  and  all  chari- 
table works,  there  would  seem  to  be,  not  only  possible,  but 
feasible  to  it,  a  destiny  hardly  less  grand  than  its  history. 

Here  we  may  appropriately  drop  the  curtain  of  this  singular 
religious  drama.  Its  every  page  has  been  suggestive  of  lessons, 
and  it  needs  no  further  epilogue.  It  demonstrates  one  ob- 
vious and  sublime  fact,  that  Christianity,  thrown  back  upon 
its  primordial  truths  and  forces,  cannot  fail,  in  its  very  sim- 
plicity, humility,  charity,  and  power,  to  attain  the  mastery  of 
the  human  soul,  to  wield  the  supremacy  of  the  moral  world. 
This  lowly  Methodistic  story  is  but  the  reproduction,  in  sub- 
stance, of  the  apostolic  history ;  and  presents,  in  full  vitality, 
that  original,  that  only,  example  of  evangelical  propagandism, 
which,  when  all  dogmatic  conflicts  and  hierarchical  pretensions, 
with  their  wasted  passions  and  pomps,  are  recorded  as  his- 
torical failures,  will  bear  forward  to  universal  triumph  the 
ensign  of  the  Cross  by  a  catholic,  living,  working  Church  of 
the  common  people. 


APPENDIX. 


WAS  THE   EPISCOPAL  ORGANIZATION   OF  AMERICAN  METHODISM 
IN  ACCORDANCE    WITH    WESLEY'S    DESIGNS? 

This  lias  been,  made  a  grave  and  persistent  question  by  op- 
ponents of  the  denomination,  especially  by  writers  in  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  As  presented  in  the  preceding 
record,  the  founders  of  American  Methodism  were  men  of 
singular  integrity  and  purity,  and  their  great  "works  do 
follow  them."  A  suspicion  that  there  was  anything  sur- 
reptitious in  their  proceedings,  at  its  very  organization,  would 
be  a  grave  detraction  from  both  them  and  the  Church,  and 
should  be  conclusively  corrected. 

Wesley  had  been  providentially  preparing  for  the  new 
and  momentous  measure  by  that  gradual  development  of 
his  personal  opinions  which  I  have  traced  in  another 
work.*  Bigoted  even,  as  a  High  Churchman,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  career,  he  was,  year  after  year,  reaching  more 
liberal  views  of  ecclesiastical  policy.  Nearly  forty  years 
before  his  ordinations  for  America,  he  had,  after  reading 
Lord  King's  "Primitive  Church,"  renounced  the  opinion 
that  a  distinction  of  order,  rather  than  of  office,  existed 
between  bishops  and  presbyters.  Fifteen  years  later  he  de- 
nied the  necessity,  though  not  the  expediency,  of  episcopal 
ordination.  Bishop  Stillingfleet  had  convinced  him  that  it 
was  "  an  entire  mistake  "  that  none  but  episcopal  ordination 
was  valid,  f  Henceforth  he  held  that  presbyters  and  bishops, 
identical  in  order,  differing  only  in  office,  had  essentially  the 
same  right  of  ordination.  It  was  not  possible  for  a  man  like 
Wesley — keen,  quick,  fearless,  and  candid — to  remain  long  in 

*  History  of  Methodism,  etc.,  3  vols.,  passim. 
f  A  Letter  to  a  Friend,  Works,  vol.  vii,  p.  301. 


5SG  APPENDIX. 

any  ecclesiastical  prejudice  now  that  he  was  on  this  track 
of  progressive  opinions.  '  He  soon  broke  awaj  from  all  other 
regard  for  questions  -of  Church  government  than  that  of  scrip- 
tural" expediency.  And  as  early  as  1756,  when  in  his  maturest 
intellectual  vigor,  he  declares:  "As  to  my  own  judgment, 
I  still  believe  '  the  episcopal  form  of  Church  government  to  be 
scriptural  and  apostolical ; '  I  mean,  well  agreeing  with  the 
practice  and  writings  of  the  apostles  ;  but  that  it  is  prescribed 
in  Scripture,  I  do  not  believe.  This  opinion,  which  I  once 
zealously  espoused,  I  have  been  heartily  ashamed  of  ever  since 
I  read  Bishop  Stillingfleet's  '  Irenicon.'  1 1  think  he  has 
unanswerably  proved  that  i  neither  Christ  nor  his  apostles 
prescribe  any  particular  form  of  Church  government,  and  that 
the  plea  of  divine  right  for  diocesan  episcopacy  was  never 
heard  of  in  the  primitive  Church."  * 

It  was  then  by  no  new  assumption  in  his  old  age — in  his  im- 
becility 3  as  some  of  his  critics  allege — that  he  now  inet  the 
necessities  of  American  Methodism  by  ordaining  men  to  pro- 
vide for  them.  His  keenest-eyed  associates  could  as  yet  detect 
no  declension  of  his  faculties ;  and  if  they  could,  still  his 
course  in  this  case  was  in  accordance  with  the  reasonings  of 
his  best  days,  and  he  but  repeats  his  long-established  opinions 
when  he  now  asserts :  "I  firmly  believe  I  am  a  scriptural 
episcopos  as  much  as  any  man  in  England,  for  the  uninter- 
rupted succession  I  know  to  be  a  fable,  which  no  man  ever 
did  or  can  prove."  f 

Methodism,  as  we  have  seen,  had  spread  rapidly  in  America, 
notwithstanding  the  war  of  the  Kevolution.  The  Kevolution 
had  not  only  dissolved  the  civil,  but  also  the  ecclesiastical 
relations  of  the  colonies  to  England.  Many  of,  the  English 
clergy,  on  whom  the  Methodist  societies  had  depended  for  the 
sacraments,  had  fled  from  the  land,  or  had  entered  political  or 
military  life,  and  the  Episcopal  Church  had  been  generally 
disabled.  In  Yirginia,  the  center  of  its  colonial  strength,  it 
had  rapidly  declined,  morally  as  well  as  numerically.  At  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  it  included  not  more  than  one 

*  Letter  to  Eev.  Mr.  Clarke,  Works,  vol.  vii,  p.  284. 
f  "On  the  Church,"  Works,  vol.  vii.  p.  312. 


APPENDIX.  587 

third  of  the  population  of  that  province.*  At  the  beginning 
of  the  war  the  sixty-one  counties  of  Virginia  contained  ninety- 
five  parishes,  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  churches,  and 
ninety-one  clergymen.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  contest  many 
of  her  churches  were  in  ruins,  nearly  a  fourth  of  her  parishes 
"  extinct  or  forsaken,"  and  thirty-four  of  the  remaining 
seventy -two  were  without  pastoral  supplies ;  twenty-eight  only 
of  her  ninety-one  clergymen  remained,  and  these  with  an 
addition,  soon  after  the  war,  of  eight  from  other  parts  of  the, 
country,  ministered  in  but  thirty-six  parishes.f  In  the  year  in 
which  Wesley  ordained  an  American  Methodist  bishop,  "  me- 
morials "  to  the  Virginia  legislature  for  the  incorporation  of 
the  "  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  Virginia,"  and  for  other 
advantages  to  religion,  were  met  by  counter  petitions  that  "  no 
step  might  be  taken  in  aid  of  religion,  but  that  it  might  be 
left  to  its  own  superior  and  successful  influence.";):  The 
memorials  were  postponed  till  the  next  session,  and  then 
rejected ;  but  a  bill  for  the  "  Incorporation  of  all  Religious 
Societies  which  may  apply  for  the  Same  "  was  adopted.  In 
other  parts  of  the  country  the  English  Church  never  had  been 
numerically  strong,  and  its  existence  was  now  precarious,  ex- 
cept in  two  or  three  of  the  cities. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  Methodists  demanded  of 
their  preachers  the  administration  of  the  sacraments.  Many 
of  the  Societies  had  been  months,  some  of  them  years,  without 
them.  The  demand  was  not  only  urgent,  it  was  logically 
right ;  but  by  the  majority  of  the  preachers  it  was  not  deemed 
expedient.  The  prudent  delay  which  Wesley,  notwithstanding 
his  liberal  ecclesiastical  principles,  had  practiced  in  England, 
afforded  a  lesson  which  their  good  sense  could  not  disregard. 
They  exhorted  their  people,  therefore,  to  wait  patiently  till  he 
could  be  consulted.  In  1779  the  question  occasioned  a  virtual, 
schism,  the  preachers  of  the  South  being  resolute  for  the  admin- 
istration of  the  sacraments,  those  of  the  North  still  pleading  for 

*  Burk's  History  of  Virginia,  vol.  ii,  p.  180.  Hawks  (Contributions  to  the 
Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  United  States  of  America,  vol.  i,  ch.  ix)  doubts 
Burk's  estimate.  Dr.  Hawks's  volume  needs  important  emendations,  especially  in 
respect  to  Methodism. 

f  Hawks,  Contributions,  vol.  i,  ch.  x.     \  Journals  of  Virginia  Assembly,  1184. 


588  APPENDIX. 

patient  delay.  The  latter  met  in  Conference  at  Judge  White's 
residence,  the  retreat  of  Asbury,  in  Delaware ;  the  former  at 
Brokenback  Church,  Fluvanna  county,  Virginia,  where  they 
made  their  own  appointments,  and  proceeded  to  ordain  them- 
selves by  the  hands  of  three  of  their  senior  members,  unwilling 
that  their  people  should  longer  be  denied  their  right  to  the 
Lord's  supper,  and  their  children  and  probationary  members 
the  rite  of  baptism.  At  the  session  of  1780  Asbury  and 
.others  were  authorized  to  visit  the  Southern  preachers,  and, 
if  possible,  conciliate  them.  He  met  them  in  Conference; 
they  appeared  -determined  not  to  recede,  but  at  last  con- 
sented to  suspend  the  administration  of  the  sacraments  till 
further  advice  could  be  received  from  Wesley.  The  breach 
was  thus  happily  repaired,  but  must  evidently  soon  again  be 
opened  if  redress  should  not  be  obtained. 

What  could  Wesley  do  under  these  circumstances  ?  What 
but  exercise  the  right  of  Ordination,  which  he  had  for  years 
theoretically  claimed,  but  practically  and  prudently  declined  % 
He  had  importuned  the  authorities  of  the  English  Church  in 
behalf  of  the  Americans.  In  this  very  year  he  had  written 
two  letters  to  Lowth,  Bishop  of  London,  imploring  ordination 
for  a  single  preacher,  who  might  appease  the  urgency  of  the 
American  brethren,  by  traveling  among  them  as  a  presbyter, 
and  by  giving  them  the  sacraments ;  but  the  request  was  de- 
nied. If  there  was  any  imprudence  on  the  part  of  Wesley  in 
this  emergency,  it  was  certainly  in  his  long-continued  patience, 
for  he  delayed  yet  nearly  four  years.  When  he  yielded,  it 
was  only  after  the  triumph  of  the  American  arms  and  the 
acknowledged  independence  of  the  colonies ;  and  not  then  till 
urged  to  it  by  his  most  revered  counselors.  Fletcher  of 
Madeley  was  one  of  these. 

Fletcher  was  present  with  Wesley  and  Coke  at  the  Leeds 
Conference  of  1784,  and  there,  with  his  assistance,*  the  ques- 
tion was  brought  to  an  issue.  Wesley  had  previously  con- 
sulted with  Coke  respecting  it.  He  represented  to  Coke  that 
as  the  Bevolution  had  separated  the  United  States  from  the 

*  Coke's  Letter  to  Wesley,  Smith's  History  of  Wesleyan  Methodism,  vol.  i, 
book  ii,  chap.  vi. 


APPENDIX.  589 

mother  country,  and  the  Episcopal  Establishment  was  utterly 
abolished  in  the  States,  it  became  his  duty,  as  providentially 
at  the  head  of  the  Methodist  Societies,  to  obey  their  demand 
and  furnish  for  them  the  means  of  grace.     He  referred  to  the 
example  of  the  Alexandrian  Church,  which,  at  the  death  of 
its  bishops,  provided  their  successors  through  ordination  by 
its  presbyters — an  historical  fact  exemplified  during  two  hun- 
dred  years.     Eecognized  as  their  founder  by  the  American 
Methodists,  required  by  them  to  provide  for  their  new  neces- 
sities, and  unable  to  induce  the  English  prelates  to  do  so,  he 
proposed  to  ordain  Coke  that  he  might  go  to  the  American 
Societies  as  their  superintendent  or  bishop,  ordain  their  preach- 
ers, and  thus  afford  them  the  sacraments  with  the  least  possible 
irregularity.     Coke  hesitated,  but  in  two  months   wrote  to 
Wesley  accepting  the  office.*     Accordingly,  accompanied  by 
James  Creighton,  a  presbyter  of  the  Church  of  England,  Coke 
met  him  at  Bristol,  and  on  the  second  of  September,  1784, 
was  ordained  superintendent  or  bishop  of  the  Methodist  Socie- 
ties in  America;  an  act  of  as  high  propriety  and  dignity  as  it 
was   of   urgent   necessity.     Richard   Whatcoat  and   Thomas 
Yasey  were  at  the  same  time  "ordained  presbyters ;  and  on  the 
third  of  November,  attended  by  his  two  presbyters,  (the  num- 
ber necessary  to  assist  a  bishop  in  ordination,  according  to  the 
usages  of  the  English  Church,)  Coke  arrived  in  the  Republic, 
and  proceeded  to  ordain  Francis  Asbury,  first  as  a  deacon, 
then  as  a  presbyter,  and  finally  as  a  bishop ;  and  to  settle  the 
organization  of  American  Methodism,  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant ecclesiastical  events  (whether  for  good  or  evil)  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  or  indeed  since  the  Reformation,  as  its 
historical  consequences  attest. 

The  Colonial  English  Church  being  dissolved  by  the  Revo- 
lution, its  dwindled  fragments  were  yet  floating,  as  had  been 
the  Methodist  Socifeties,  on  the  stormy  tide  of  events.  Meth- 
odism preceded  it  in  reorganization,  as  I  have  shown.  The 
Methodist  bishops  were  the  first   Protestant  bishops,  f   and 

*  Drew's  Life  of  Coke,  chap.  v. 

f  Unless  some  occasional  and  obscure  Episcopal  appointments  in  the  few  local 
Moravian  communities  of  the  colonies  may  be  deemed  exceptions. 


590  APPENDIX. 

Methodism  was  the  first  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the 
Xew  World ;  and  as  Wesley  had  given  it  the  Anglican  Arti- 
cles of  Keligiqn,  (omitting  the  seventeenth,  on  Predestination,) 
and  the  Liturgy,  wisely  abridged,  it  became,  both  by  its  pre- 
cedent organization  and  its  subsequent  numerical  importance, 
the  real  successor  to  the  Anglican  Church  in  America. 

Of  course  this  extraordinary  but  necessary  measure  met  with 
opposition  from  Charles  Wesley.  He  still  retained  his  High 
Church  opinions ;  he  denounced  the  ordinations  as  schism ; 
with  his  usual  haste  he  predicted  that  Coke  would  return  from 
"  his  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Baltimore  "  to  "  make 
us  all  Dissenters  here."  The  poet  was  no  legislator;  he  be- 
came pathetic  in  his  remonstrances  to  his  brother.  "Alas!  " 
he  wrote,  "what  trouble  are  you  preparing  for  yourself  as 
well  as  for  me,  and  for  your  Oldest,  truest,  best  friends !  Be- 
fore you  have  quite  broken  down  the  bridge,  stop  and  consider ! 
If  your  sons  have  no  regard  for  you,  have  some  for  yourself. 
Go  to  your  grave  in  peace ;  at  least  suffer  me  to  go  first,  be- 
fore this  ruin  is  under  your  hand."  He  did  soon  after  go  to 
his  grave  in  peace,  except  the  alarms  of  his  imaginary  fears, 
and  the  only  evidence  of  the  predicted  "  ruin  "  is  seen  to-day 
in  the  prevalent  and  permanent  success  of  Methodism  in  both 
hemispheres. 

The  next  year  after  the  ordination  of  Coke,  Wesley  records 
in  his  Journal :  "I  was  now  considering  how  strangely  the 
grain  of  mustard-seed,  planted  about  fifty  years  ago,  had 
grown  up.  It  spread  through  all  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  the  Isle  of  Man ;  then  to  America, 
through  the  whole  continent,  into  Canada,  the  Leeward  Isl- 
ands, and  Newfoundland.  And  the  Societies  in  all  these  parts 
walk  by  one  rule,  knowing  religion  is  holy  tempers,  and 
striving  to  worship  God,  not  in  form  only,  but  likewise  in 
spirit  and  in  truth."  His  policy  becomes  more  and  more  lib- 
eral as  he  now  finds  it  necessary  to  fortify  his  cause  before  his 
approaching  death.  The  following  year  (1786)  he  ordained 
six  or  seven  more  preachers,  sending  some  to  Scotland,  and 
others  to  the  West  Indies,*  but  he  ordained  none  as  yet  for 

*  Jackson's  Charles  Wesley,  chap,  xxvi 


APPENDIX.  591 

England,  where  he  and  his  clerical  friends  could  partially 
supply  the  sacraments.  Three  years  later  he  ordained  Mather, 
Rankin,  and  Moore.*  About  a  score  of  lay  preachers  received 
ordination  from  his  hands,  and  for  no  other  purpose  but  that 
they  might  administer  the  sacraments  in  cases  of  necessity. 
Thus  did  providential  events  give  shape  and  security  to  Meth- 
odism as  its  aged  leader  approached  his  end. 

No  act  of  Wesley's  public  life  has  been  more  misrepre- 
sented, if  not  misunderstood,  than  his  ordination  of  Coke,  and 
the  consequent  episcopal  organization  of  his  American  soci- 
eties. Churchmen,  so  called,  have  especially  insisted  that  he 
did  not  design  to  confer  upon  Coke  the  character  of  a  bishop ; 
that  Coke's  new  office  was  designed  to  be  a  species  of  super- 
visory appointment,  vague  and  contingent — something  widely 
different  from  episcopacy,  however  difficult  to  define;  and 
that,  therefore,  the  distinct  existence  of  American  Methodism, 
as  an  episcopal  Church,  is  a  fact  contrary  to  the  intention  of 
"Wesley.  ~No  extant  forensic  argument,  founded  upon  docu- 
mentary evidence,  is  stronger  than  would  be  a  right  collocation 
of  the  evidence  which  sustains  the  claim  of  American  Meth- 
odism respecting  this  question.  All  Methodist  authorities, 
British  a"s  well  as  American,  support  that  claim;  its  proofs 
have  been  more  or  less  cited,  again  and  again,  but  they  have 
not  usually  been  drawn  out  in  detail.  Presented  in  their  right 
series  they  become  absolutely  decisive,  and  must  conclude  the 
controversy  with  all  candid  minds.  It  is  appropriate  to  re- 
view completely  the  argument  once  more.  In  stating  the 
facts  which  compose  it,  in  their  successive  relations  one  to  an- 

*  "  To  administer  the  sacraments  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper,  according  to 
the  usages  of  the  Church  of  England,"  says  the  certificate  of  ordination  ;  (see  it  in 
Life  of  Henry  Moore,  p.  134,  Am.  ed. ;)  and  yet  a  living  Churchman  (Dr.  Pusey's 
Letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  p.  151)  says  that  "Wesley  reluctantly  took  the 
step  of  ordaining  at  all;"  and  that  "to  the  last  he  refused,  in  the  strongest  terms,  his 
consent  that  those  thus  ordained  should  take  upon  them  to  administer  the  sacraments. 
He  felt  that  it  exceeded  his  powers,  and  so  inhibited  it,  however  it  might  diminish 
the  numbers  of  the  Society  he  had  formed."  The  biographers  of  Wilberforco 
(vol.  i,  p.  248)  also  say :  "Nor  were  any  of  his  preachers  suffered  during  his  lifetime 
to  attempt  to  administer  the  sacraments  of  his  Church:'  It  is  high  time  that  such 
fictions  should  cease  among  English  Churchmen.  It  seems  that  they  have  yet  to 
learn  how  thorough  and  noble  a  heretic  Wesley  really  was. 


592  APPENDIX. 

other,  some  repetition  will  be  necessary ;  but  the  highest  logic 
— mathematical  demonstration  itself — is  that  in  which  not 
only  the  postulates,  but  the  successive  proofs,  most  often  recur 
to  strengthen  the  advancing  demonstration. 

It  has  been  seen  that,  as  before  the  American  Revolution 
the  two  countries  were  under  one  government,  the  two  Meth- 
odist bodies  were  also.  Wesley's  "Minutes"  were  the  Dis- 
cipline of  the  American  as  well  as  the  British  Methodists ;  and 
Asbury  represented  his  person  in  America,  vested  with  much 
greater  powers  than  have  since  belonged  to  the  American 
Methodist  bishops.  Thus  was  the  American  Church  gov- 
erned, for  years,  by  the  paternal  direction  of  Wesley.  It  has 
been  further  shown,  that,  in  meeting  its  demands,  Wesley  or- 
dained and  sent  over  Dr.  Coke,  with  episcopal  powers,  under 
the  name  of  superintendent,  to  ordain  Francis  Asbury  a  "joint 
superintendent,"  and  to  ordain  the  preachers  to  the  offices  of 
deacons  and  elders.  He  sent  also  a  printed  liturgy,  or  "  Sunday 
Service,"  containing,  besides  the  usual  prayers,  forms  for  "  or- 
daining superintendents,  elders,  and  deacons,"  the  "  Articles  of 
Religion,"  and  "  A  Collection  of  Psalms  and  Hymns."  Coke 
also  bore  from  him  a  circular  letter  stating  reasons  for  the  new 
measures,  the  chief  one  being  the  demand  of  the  American  Socie- 
ties. When  he  arrived,  the  preachers  assembled  in  Baltimore 
to  receive  him  and  the  new  arrangements  borne  by  him  from 
Wesley.  The  adoption  of  the  provisions  thus  made  by  Wesley, 
at  the  request  of  "  some  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  of  these 
States,"  is  what  is  called  the  u  organization  "  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  The  "Minutes,"  which  had  before  been 
the  law  of  the  Church,  were  continued,  with  such  additions  as 
were  required  by  these  new  arrangements.  There  was  no 
revolution  of  the  Church  polity,  and  no  new  powers  were  im- 
parted to  Asbury,  except  authority  to  ordain.  Everything 
proceeded  as  before,  except  that  the  Methodist  Societies  no 
longer  depended  upon  the  Church  of  England  for  the  sacra- 
ments, but  received  them  from  their  own  preachers.  Thus, 
then,  it  appears  that  the  so-called  "  organization  "  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  at  Baltimore  was  simply  and  substan- 
tially the  adoption  of  the  system  appointed  by  Wesley.     In 


APPENDIX.  593 

respect  to  the  very  term  "  episcopal "  itself,  the  Conference  of 
Baltimore  said,  in  their  "Minutes"  of  the  so-called  organiza- 
tion, that,  "  following  the  counsel  of  Mr.  John  Wesley,  who 
recommended  the  ejnscopal  mode  of  Church  government,  we 
thought  it  best  to  become  an  episcopal  Church."  *  The  Min- 
utes containing  this  declaration  were,  six  months  afterward,  in 
the  hands  of  Wesley,  and  were  published  in  England  without 
a  word  of  disapprobation  from  him;  and  when  Coke  was 
attacked  in  an  English  pamphlet  for  his  doings  at  Baltimore, 
he  publicly  defended  himself  by  declaring  that  he  had  "done 
nothing  without  the  direction  of  Mr.  Wesley."  This  he  did  in 
a  publication  under  the  eye  of  Wesley,  f 

It  should  be  frankly  admitted,  however,  that  Wesley,  while 
he  established  the  American  episcopacy,  did  not  approve  the 
use  of  the  title  of  "  bishop,"  because  of  the  adventitious  digni- 
ties associated  with  it.  But  let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
American  Societies  had  been  in  existence  nearly  four  years 
under  the  express  title  of  an  "Episcopal  Church,"  with  the 
uninterrupted  approbation  of  Wesley,  before  the  name  bishop 
was  personally  applied  to  their  superintendents.^:  Not  till 
this  term  was  so  applied  did  he  demur.  He  then  wrote  a 
letter  to  Bishop  Asbury,  objecting  strongly  to  his  being  "  called 
a  bishop."  And  it  is  on  this  letter,  more  than  anything  else, 
that  the  opponents  of  Methodism  have  founded  their  allegation 
that  Wesley  did  not  design  to  establish  the  American  Meth- 
odist episcopate,  but  that  Coke  and  the  Baltimore  Conference 
exceeded  his  intentions  in  assuming  it.  Quotations  from  this- 
letter  have  been  incessantly  given,  in  a  form  adapted  only  to 
produce  a  false  effect,  for  the  letter  can  be  rightly  compre- 
hended only  by  the  aid  of  the  historical  facts  of  the  case. 

Did  Wesley,  then,  design,  by  his  ordination  of  Coke,  to 

*  Emory's  History  of  the  Discipline,  pp.  25,  30. 

\  Drew's  Life  of  Coke,  chap.  vi.  His  assailant  is  supposed  to  have  been  Charles 
Wesley.     Etheridge's  Coke,  book  ii,  chap.  vii. 

+  It  had  been  used,  however,  in  the  Minutes  as  explanatory  of  the  word  "  super- 
intendent." The  Minutes  say  that,  "following  the  counsel  of  Mr.  John  Wesley, 
who  recommended  the  episcopal  mode  of  Church  government,  we  thought  it  best 
to  become  an  episcopal  Church,  making  the  episcopal  office  elective,  and  the  elected 
superintendent,  or  bishop,  amenable  to  the  body  of  ministers  and  preachers."  Min- 
utes, vol.  i,  p.  22.     New  York,  1840. 

38 


594  APPENDIX. 

confer  on  him  the  office  of  a  bishop,  and  to  constitute  the 
American  Methodist  Societies  an  episcopal  Church?  Three 
things  are  to  be  assumed  as  preliminary  to  this  inquiry : 

1.  That  Wesley  was  a  decided  Episcopalian.  What  man 
was  ever  more  attached  to  the  national  episcopacy  of  England  ? 
I  have  already  cited  proofs  that  he  believed  the  "  episcopal 
form  of  Church  government  to  be  scriptural  and  apostolical," 
that  is,  "  well  agreeing  with  the  practice  and  writings  of  the 
apostles ;"  though  that  it  is  prescribed  in  Scripture  he  did  not 
believe. 

2.  That  Wesley,  while  he  believed  in  episcopacy,  belonged 
to  that  class  of  Episcopalians  who  contend  that  episcopacy  is 
not  a  distinct  order,  but  a  distinct  office,  in  the  ministry ;  that 
bishops  and  presbyters,  or  elders,  are  of  the  same  order,  and 
have  essentially  the  same  prerogatives ;  but  that,  for  conven- 
ience, some  of  this  order  may  be  raised  to  the  episcopal  office, 
and  some  of  the  functions  originally  pertaining  to  the  whole 
order,  as  ordination,  for  example,  may  be  confined  to  them ; 
the  presbyter  thus  elevated  being  but  primus  inter  pares — the 
first  among  equals — a  presiding  officer.* 

3.  That  the  words  episcopos,  (Greek,)  superintendent,  (Latin,) 
and  bishop  (English)  f  have  the  same  meaning,  namely,  an 
overseer. 

With  these  preliminaries  we  recur  to  the  questions,  Did 
Wesley  appoint  Coke  to  the  episcopal  office  %  Did  he  estab- 
lish the  American  Methodist  episcopate  ?  Let  us  look  at  the 
evidence. 

1.  Wesley  mentions,  in  Coke's  certificate  of  ordination,  as  a 
reason  for  ordaining  him,  that  the  Methodists  in  America  de- 
sired "still  to  adhere  to  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the 
Church  of  England."  %  That  Church  in  America  was  dissolved 
by  the  Revolution  ;  he  therefore  appointed  Coke,  with  an  epis- 
copal form  of  government,  a  ritual,  and  articles  of  religion,  to 
meet  the  exigency.     If  Coke  was  appointed  merely  to  some 

*  See  his  circular  letter  to  the  American  Societies,  given  in  chap.  v. 
f  Bishop  (Saxon,  Uscliop)  is  a  corruption  of  the  Latinized  Greek  word  episcojpus. 
Its  analogy  to  the  second  and  third  syllables  of  the  latter  is  obvious. 
%  Drew's  Life  of  Coke,  chap.  v. 


APPENDIX.  595 

such  indefinite  and  contingent  supervisory  office  as  "  Church  " 
writers  allege— if  he  possessed  not  the  authoritative  functions 
of  episcopacy — wherein  did  his  appointment  answer  the  purpose 
mentioned  by  Wesley — "  the  discipline  of  the  Church  of  En- 
gland ? "  Wherein  consists  the  main  feature  of  the  discipline 
of  the  English  Church?  In  its  episcopal  superintendence. 
Wherein  does  American  Methodism  resemble  it?  Certainly 
not  in  class  meetings,  itinerancy,  and  other  characteristic  pe- 
culiarities, but  in  its  episcopal  regimen.  Wesley's  language  is 
without  sense  if  this  is  not  its  meaning. 

2.  Why  did  Wesley  attach  so  much  importance  to  the  ap- 
pointment if  it  was  of  the  secondary  character  alleged  ?  He 
says  in  his  circular  letter,  respecting  Coke's  ordination  :  "  For 
many  years  I  have  been  importuned,  from  time  to  time,  to 
exercise  this  right  by  ordaining  part  of  our  traveling  preachers; 
but  I  have  still  refused,  not  only  for  peace'  sake,  but  because  I 
was  determined  as  little  as  possible  to  violate  the  established 
order  of  the  national  Church  to  which  I  belonged.  But  the 
case  is  widely  different  between  England  and  America.  Here 
there  are  bishops  who  have  a  legal  jurisdiction.  In  America 
there  are  none,  neither  any  parish  ministers ;  so  that,  for  some 
hundred  miles  together,  there  are  none  either  to  baptize  or 
administer  the  sacrament.     Here,  therefore,  my  scruples  are  at 

an  end ! "  ■ 

Scruples!  What  could  have  been  his  "scruples"  about 
sending  Coke  on  such  a  secondary  errand  as  the  opponents  of 
the  Methodist  episcopacy  assert  %  He  had  already  sent  Asbury 
and  others  to  America,  and  to  Asbury  he  had  actually  assigned 
such  a  special  yet  secondary  office,  but  unaccompanied  with 
the  ordination  and  authority  of  episcopacy.  This  he  had  done 
years  before,  without  any  scruple  whatever;  but  during  all 
this  time  he  had  been  scrupling  about  this  new  and  solemn 
measure,  till  the  Kevolution  relieved  him  by  abolishing  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  English  bishops  in  the  colonies.  There  is 
certainly  sheer  absurdity  in  all  this  if  Wesley  merely  gave  to 
Coke  and  Asbury  a  sort  of  indefinite  though  special  commission 
in  the  American  Church,  not  including  in  it  the  distinctive 
functions  of  episcopacy.     We  can  conceive  of  nothing  in  the 


596  APPENDIX. 

nature  of  such  a  commission  to  excite  such  scruples — a  commis- 
sion which  had  long  since  been  given  to  Asbury. 

Again,  when  Wesley  proposed  to  Coke  his  ordination  to  this 
new  office,  some  six  or  seven  months  before  it  was  conferred, 
Coke  "  was  startled  at  a  measure  so  unprecedented  in  modern 
days,"  and  doubted  "Wesley's  authority  to  ordain  him,  as  Wes- 
ley himself  was  not  a  bishop.*  Wesley  recommended  him  to 
read  Lord  King's  Primitive  Church,  and  gave  him  time  to  re- 
flect. Coke  passed  two  months  in  Scotland,  and,  on  satisfying 
his  doubts,  wrote  to  Wesley  accepting  the  appointment,  and 
was  afterward  ordained,  with  solemn  forms  and  the  imposition 
of  hands,  by  Wesley,  assisted  by  presbyters  of  the  Church  of 
England.  What  could  have  possibly  been  the  pertinency  of 
all  these  former  scruples  of  Wesley,  this  surprise,  and  doubt, 
and  delay  of  Coke,  this  reference  to  ecclesiastical  antiquity, 
and  to  a  book  which  demonstrates  the  right  of  presbyters  to 
ordain  bishops  in  given  cases,  and  these  solemn  forms,  if  they 
related  merely  to  the  alleged  species  of  appointment,  especially 
as  this  very  species  of  commission  had  already  existed  for  some 
years  in  the  person  of  Asbury  % 

3.  It  is  evident,  beyond  all  question,  that  Wesley  did  not 
consider  this  solemn  act  in  the  subordinate  sense  of  an  appoint- 
ment, but  as  an  "  ordination,"  using  the  word  in  its  strictest 
ecclesiastical  application.  In  his  circular  letter  he  says :  "  For 
many  years  I  have  been  importuned  ...  to  exercise  this  right 
by  ordaining  a  part  of  our  traveling  preachers ;  but  I  have 
still  refused  .  .  .  because  I  was  determined  as  little  as  possible 
to  violate  the  established  order  of  the  national  Church.  .  .  . 
Here  my  scruples  are  at  an  end."  Here  the  wTord  ordaining  is 
expressly  used  ;  and  if  the  new  appointment  was  not  a  regular 
"  ordination,"  but  a  species  of  nondescript  commission,  solem- 
nized by  the  mere  forms  of  ordination,  how  could  it  be  an  inter- 
ference with  the  "established  order  of  the  national  Church?" 
How,  especially,  could  it  be  such  an  interference,  in  any  im- 
portant sense  different  from  that  wdiich  Wesley  had  already, 
for  years,  been  exercising  without  "scruple,"  in  sending  to 
America  his  unordained  preachers  %    It  was  clearly  an  ordina 

*  Drew's  Life  of  Coke,  chap.  v. 


APPENDIX.  597 


tion,  in  the  ecclesiastical  sense  of  the  term ;  but  there  have 
been  only  three  ordinations  claimed  in  the  Christian  world, 
namely,  to  the  offices  of,  1.  Deacons;  2.  Elders  or  presbyters ; 
and,  3.  Bishops.  If,  then,  Coke  was  ordained  by  Wesley,  and 
was  not  ordained  a  bishop,  it  becomes  at  once  a  pertinent  but 
unanswerable  question,  To  what  was  he  ordained  %  He  had 
been  a  presbyter  for  years.  To  what,  then,  did  Wesley  ordain 
him,  if  not  to  the  next  recognized  office  ? 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  Whatcoat  and  Yasey  'were  or- 
dained elders  for  America  at  the  time  of  Coke's  ordination, 
but  by  a  distinct  act.  If  Coke  did  not  receive  a  higher  ordi- 
nation, (that  is,  episcopal,  for  this  is  the  only  higher  one,)  why 
was  he  ordained  separately  from  them,  though  on  the  same 
occasion  ?  And  why  did  Wesley,  in  his  circular  letter,  declare 
to  the  American  Methodists  that,  while  Whatcoat  and  Yasey 
were  "  to  act  as  elders  among  them,"  Coke  and  Asbury  were 
"  to  be  joint  superintendents  over  them  ? " 

4.  Wesley,  in  his  circular  letter,  appeals  to  Lord  King's 
Sketch  of  the  Primitive  Church  to  show  that  he  as  a  presbyter, 
had  a  right,  under  his  peculiar  circumstances,  to  perform  these 
ordinations.  Lord  King  establishes  the  second  of  the  above 
preliminary  statements,  and  the  right  of  presbyters  to  ordain. 
And  Wesley  cites  particularly  his  reference  to  the  Alexandrian 
Church,  where,  on  the  decease  of  a  bishop,  the  presbyters  or- 
dained his  successor.  Why  now  this  reference  to  Lord  King 
and  the  Alexandrian  Church— proving  that  presbyters  could 
ordain— in  justification  of  Wesley's  proceedings,  if  he  did  not 
ordain  ?  And  if  he  did  ordain  Coke,  it  may  again  be  asked,  as 
Coke  was  already  a  presbyter,  to  what  was  he  thus  ordained, 
if  it  was  not  to  the  only  remaining  office— the  episcopate  ? 
And  still  more  pointedly  may  it  be  asked,  What  propriety  was 
there  in  Wesley's  justifying  himself  by  referring  to  the  ordina- 
tion of  bishops  by  the  presbyters  of  Alexandria  if  he  himself 
had  not  ordained  a  bishop  % 

5.  Wesley  prepared  at  this  time  a  Prayer  Book  for  the 
American  Church— an  abridgment  of  the  English  Liturgy— to 
be  used  under  the  new  arrangement.  It  contains  the  forms  for 
the  ordination  of,  1.  Deacons;  2.  Elders;  3.  Superintendents; 


598  APPENDIX. 

and  directs  expressly  that  all  preachers  elected  to  the  office  of 
deacon,  elder,  or  superintendent  shall  be  presented  to  the 
superintendent  "  to  be  ordained."  Let  it  be  remarked,  then, 
1)  That  here  the  very  word  ordain  is  used.  2)  We  have  here 
the  three  distinct  offices  of  the  ministry  stated  in  order,  accord- 
ing to  the  understanding  of  Wesley  and  of  all  Episcopalians 
throughout  the  world.  3)  That  not  only  is  the  name  of  bishop 
changed  to  that  of  superintendent,  but  the  name  of  presbyter, 
or  priest,  to  that  of  elder — the  new  names  being  in  both  cases 
synonymous  with  the  old  ones.  If  the  change  of  the  former 
name  implies  a  difference  in  the  office  also,  why  does  not  the 
change  in  the  latter  imply  the  same  %  4)  These  forms  of  ordi- 
nation were  taken  from  the  forms  in  the  English  Liturgy  for  the 
ordination  of  deacons,  presbyters,  and  bishops,  the  names  of 
the  latter  two  being  changed  to  synonymous  terms,  namely, 
elders  and  superintendents.  The  opponents  of  the  Methodist 
episcopacy  readily  grant  that  elder  means  presbyter,  yet,  as 
soon  as  superintendents  are  mentioned  as  bishops,  they  protest. 
5)  These  forms  show  that  Wesley  not  only  created  the  Meth- 
odist episcopate,  but  designed  it  to  continue  after  Coke  and 
Asbury's  decease  :  they  were  printed  for  permanent  use. 

6.  By  reading  Coke's  letter  to  Wesley,  consenting  to  and 
directing  about  his  proposed  ordination,  it  will  be  seen  that 
Whatcoat  and  Yasey  were  ordained  presbyters  at  Coke's  re- 
quest, because  "propriety  and  universal  practice,"  he  says, 
"  make  it  expedient  that  I  should  have  two  presbyters  with 
me  in  this  work."  *  That  is,  Coke  requests,  and  Wesley  grants, 
that  two  presbyters  shall  be  ordained  to  accompany  Coke  in 
his  new  office,  because  "  propriety  and  universal  practice " 
require  that  two  presbyters  assist  a  bishop  in  ordaining ;  and 
yet  Coke  was  not  appointed  to  the  office  of  a  bishop !  Coke, 
in  this  letter,  let  it  be  repeated,  requests  that  these  two  men 
should  be  made  "  presbyters ;  "  Wesley  complies  ;  and  yet,  in 
the  forms  of  the  Prayer  Book,  or  Discipline,  they  are  called 
"elders."  The  name  only  was  changed,  therefore,  not  the 
thing;  why  then  is  not  the  inference  just,  that  the  other 
change  in  these  forms,  that  of  bishop  to  superintendent,  is 

*  Smith's  History  of  Methodism,  vol.  i,  book  ii,  chap,  vi,  p.  541. 


APPENDIX.  •     599 


only  in  the  name,  not  in  the  thing  ?     The  rule  certainly  ought 
to  "  work  both  ways." 

7.  Charles  Wesley  was  a  rigid  High  Churchman ,  and  op- 
posed to  all  ordinations  by.  his  brother.  The  latter  knew  his 
views  so  well  that  he  would  not  expose  the  present  measure 
to  interruption  by  acquainting  him  with  it  till  it  was  consum- 
mated. Though  Charles  Wesley  was  a  presbyter  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  in  the  town  at  the  time,  yet  other 
presbyters  were  summoned  to  meet  the  demand  of  "  propriety 
and  universal  practice"  on  such  occasions,  while  he  was  care- 
fully avoided.  Now  why  this  remarkable  precaution  against 
the  High  Church  prejudices  of  his  brother  respecting  ordina- 
tions, if  he  did  not  in  these  proceedings  ordain?  If  it  be 
replied,  that  Charles  was  not  only  opposed  to  his  brother's 
ordaining  a  bishop,  but  equally  to  his  ordaining  to  the  other 
offices  of  the  ministry  ;  and,  therefore,  the  ordinations  might 
have  been  confined  to  the  latter,  and  yet  such  precautions  be 
proper,  it  may  then  be  asked  again,  How  can  we  suppose  Coke 
to  be  now  ordained  to  these  lower  offices  when  he  had  already 
received  them,  and  had  exercised  them  for  years  ? 

8.  As  soon  as  Charles  Wesley  learned  these  proceedings  he 
w;  s  profoundly  afflicted.  His  correspondence  with  his  broth- 
er *  shows  that  he  understood  them  in  the  manner  that  the 
American  Methodists  do,  and  Wesley  never  corrected  this 
interpretation.  He  defends  himself,  but  never  denies  the 
facts.  Charles  Wesley  speaks  of  Coke's  "  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  Baltimore,"  alluding  to  the  name  assumed  by  the 
American  Church  at  its  organization  in  that  city.  Wesley,  in 
his  reply,  utters  not  a  word  in  denial  or  disapproval  of  this 
title,  but  simply  vindicates  the  necessity  of  his  course  in 
respect  to  the  American  Methodists.  Charles  Wesley,  in 
response,  speaks  of  the  doctor's  "ambition"  and  "rashness." 
Wesley,  though  he  knew  the  Church  had  been  organized  at 
Baltimore  with  the  title  of  "  Episcopal,"  says:  "  I  believe  Dr. 
Coke  as  free  from  ambition  as  covetousness.  He  has  done 
nothing  rashly  that  I  know."  Charles  Wesley,  in  his  letter  to 
Dr.  Chandler,  a  clergyman  about  to  sail  for  America,  speaks 

*  Jackson's  Charles  Wesley,  chap.  xxvi. 


000  APPENDIX. 

of  his  brother  having  "  assumed  the  episcopal  character,  or- 
dained elders,  consecrated  a  bishop,  and  sent  him  to  ordain 
our  lay  preachers  in  America ; "  showing  thus  what  the  office 
really  was,  though  the  name  was  changed.  Evidently  it  was 
only  the  appellation  of  bishop,  applied  to  the  superintendents 
in  person,  that  Wesley  disapproved. 

9.  The  Conference  at  which  the  Church  was  organized  ter- 
minated January  1,  1785.  The  Minutes  were  published  by 
Coke  with  the  title,  "  Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  America."  The  Minutes,  as  has  been  stated,  ex- 
pressly say  that  the  American  Societies  were  formed  into  an 
Episcopal  Church,  and  this,  too,  at  the  "  recommendation  " 
of  Wesley.  By  July,  Coke  was  with  Wesley  at  the  British 
Conference.  By  the  26th  of  the  preceding  June,  his  own 
Journal,  containing  this  phrase,  was  inspected  by  Wesley. 
Coke  also  took  to  England  the  American  Minutes,  and  they 
were  printed  on  a  press  which  Wesley  used,  and  under  his 
own  eye.  The  Baltimore  proceedings  were  therefore  known 
to  Wesley,  but  we  hear  of  no  remonstrance  from  him.  They 
soon  became  known,  by  the  Minutes,  to  the  public  ;  and  when 
Coke  was  attacked  publicly  for  what  he  had  done,  he  replied, 
as  we  have  seen,  through  the  press,  that  "  he  had  done  noth- 
ing but  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Wesley."  Wesley  never 
denied  it.  How  are  all  these  facts  explicable,  on  the  supposi- 
tion that  Coke  and  Asbury  had  ambitiously  broken  over 
Wesley's  restrictions  % 

10.  One  of  Charles  Wesley's  greatest  fears  was,  as  we  have 
noticed,  that  the  English  preachers  would  be  ordained  by 
Coke.  He  had  prevailed  upon  his  brother  to  refuse  them 
ordination  for  years.  He  now  writes,  with  deep  concern,  that 
"  not  a  preacher  in  London  would  refuse  orders  from  the  doc- 
tor." "  He  comes  armed  with  your  authority  to  make  us  all 
Dissenters."  Now,  why  all  this  danger  of  a  sudden  disposition 
of  the  English  preachers  to  receive  u  orders  from  the  doctor," 
if  it  was  not  understood  that  he  had  received  episcopal  powers, 
and  they  despaired  of  ever  getting  ordination  from  the  national 
bishops  1  If  it  is  replied,  they  believed,  with  Wesley,  that, 
under  necessary  circumstances,  presbyters  could  ordain,  and 


APPENDIX.  601 

therefore  desired  it  from  Coke,  not  in  view  of  his  new  appoint- 
ment, but  because  he  was  a  presbyter  of  the  Church  of  En- 
gland, then  it  may  be  properly  asked,  Why  did  they  not  seek 
it  before,  for  Coke  had  been   a  presbyter  among  them   for 
years  -1     Why  start  up  with  such  a  demand  all  at  once  as  soon 
as  they  learned  of  the  new  position  of  Coke  ?     And  how  could 
Charles  Wesley  say,  in  this  case,  "  He  comes  armed  with  your 
authority  3 "  for  his  authority  as  a  presbyter  he  obtained  from 
a  bishop  of  the  English  Church  years  before  he  knew  Wesley. 
11.  The    term  bishop  was  not  personally  applied  in  the 
Discipline  to  the  American   superintendents  till  about  three 
years  after  the  "  organization  "  of  the  Church,  and  Wesley's 
objurgatory  letter  to  Asbury  was  not  written  till  four  years 
after  it.     During    all  this  interval,   however,  the  American 
Societies  were  called  an  "  Episcopal   Church.1'     Six  months 
after  adopting  the  name,  its  Minutes  were,  as  stated,  inspected 
by  Wesley,  and  published  under  his  auspices ;  their  title  in- 
cluded  the  phrase   "  The   Methodist    Episcopal   Church    in 
America ;  "  yet,  as  has  been  shown,  during  this  long  interim, 
Wesley   never   uttered    a  syllable  against  this   assumption ! 
When  his  brother  writes  him,  accusing  Coke  of  rashness,  he 
replies  that  "  the  doctor  has  done  nothing  rashly  ;  "  and  when 
Coke  is  accused  through  the  press,  he  declares,  under  Wesley's 
eye,  and  without  contradiction,  that  u  he  had   done  nothing 
without   the    direction  of  Mr.   Wesley."     What  now  do  all 
these  incidents  imply  \     What  but  that  Wesley  did  approve 
the  American  episcopate— that  it  was  established  by  his  di- 
rection ?     Yet  four  years  after,  when  the  appellation  of  bishop 
was  applied  personally  to  the  American  episcojpoi^  this  letter 
of   Wesley    was   written.      What    further    does  this   imply? 
What  but  that  it  was  not  the  thing  he  condemned,  but  the 
name;   the  thing  had  existed   for  years  uncondemned,  nay, 
defended  by  him ;  the  very  name  "  Episcopal,"  so  far  as  it  ap- 
plied to  the  Church  collectively,  he  did  not  condemn ;  but  the 
personal  title  of  bishop  he  disapproved,  because  of  its  objec- 
tionable associations.     Is  it  possible  to  escape  this  inference  % 

Finally,  Wesley  himself  admitted  that  "  he  had  invested 
persons  with  the  episcopal  character  and  sent  them  to  Amer- 


002  APPENDIX. 

ica."*  Jones  of  Nayland  asked  him  the  direct  question  and 
received  an  affirmative  reply,  with  justificatory  reasons  for  the 
measure.f  Thus  we  see  that,  whatever  view  we  take  of  the 
subject,  we  are  compelled  to  one  conclusion  :  that  Wesley  did 
create  and  establish  the  American  Methodist  episcopacy.  The 
man  who  gainsays  such  evidence  must  be  given  up  as  incor- 
rigible.    There  can  be  no  reasoning  with  him. 

And  now,  what  is  the  sum  of  this  evidence  %  It  has  already 
been  presented  with  sufficient  detail ;  but  let  us  retrace  the 
successive  and  decisive  steps  of  the  argument.  Here  we  have 
"Wesley  proposing  to  establish  "  the  Discipline  of  the  Church 
of  England  "  among  the  American  Methodists,  and  to  do  so 
he  ordains  for  them  bishops,  and  gives  them  an  episcopal 
regimen  ;  yet,  according  to  their  antagonists,  he  never  designed 
them  to  be  a  distinct  Church,  but  only  a  "  society "  in  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  !  Wesley  and  Coke  have  "  scru- 
ples," delays,  references  to  antiquity,  imposition  of  hands,  and 
other  solemn  forms,  conforming  to  the  "  universal  practice  "  of 
episcopal  ordination ;  and  yet  all  concerning  some  nondescript 
appointment,  analogous  to  that  which  is  conferred  upon  a  mis- 
sionary, in  charge  over  his  brethren  in  a  foreign  station ! 
Wesley  speaks  of  it  as  "  ordaining,"  and  of  his  refusing  to  use 
the  right  before  the  Revolution  because  it  would  have  inter- 
fered with  the  "  established  order  of  the  national  Church ; " 
and  yet  a  mere  secondary  commission  of  Coke,  such  a  one  as 
had  existed  in  the  person  of  Asbury  for  years,  is  the  moment- 
ous interference  with  the  established  order  of  the  national 
Church — though  there  was  nothing  in  that  order  with  which 
it  could  interfere,  the  national  Church  never  having  had  any 
such  appointments  !  Wesley  solemnly  "  ordains  "  Coke ;  and  yet 
it  is  not  to  the  episcopal  office,  though  he  had  been  ordained  to 
all  the  other  offices  to  which  ordination  is  appropriate  years 
before !  Wesley  ordains  two  other  men  to  the  office  of  elders, 
and  at  the  same  time  separately  and  formally  ordains  Coke, 
who  had  already  borne  this  office ;  but  still  Coke's  new  office 
is  not  the  only  remaining  one  that  could  be  conferred  upon 

*  Hawks's  Contributions,  etc.,  p.  169. 

f  Life  of  Bishop  Home,  by  Jones  of  Nayland,  pp.  143-145. 


APPENDIX.  603 

him  !  Wesley  refers  to  the  ordination  of  bishops  by  the  pres- 
byters of  Alexandria,  in  justification  of  his  ordination  of  Coke, 
and  yet  he  does  not  ordain  Coke  a  bishop  !  Wesley  prepares 
for  the  American  Church  a  Prayer  Book,  abridged  from  that 
of  the  Church  of  England,  prescribing  the  English  forms  for 
the  three  offices  of  deacons,  presbyters,  and  bishops ;  the  two 
former  are  admitted  unquestionably  to  be  what  they  are  in  En- 
gland, and  yet  the  latter  is  explained  into  something  new 
and  anomalous,  answering  to  nothing  ever  heard  of  in  the 
Church  of  England  or  in  any  other  episcopal  Church !  In  these 
forms  the  old  names  of  two  of  the  offices  are  changed  to  new 
but  synonymous  appellations,  that  of  presbyter  or  priest  to 
elder,  that  of  bishop  to  superintendent ;  in  the  former  case  the 
change  of  the  name  is  not  for  a  moment  supposed  to  imply  a 
change  of  the  thing ;  and  yet,  in  the  other  case,  the  change  of 
the  name  invalidates  entirely  the  thing,  without  a  particle 
more  evidence  for  it  in  the  one  case  than  in  the  other !  Charles 
Wesley,  being  a  High  Churchman,  is  kept  unaware  of  his 
brother's  proceedings  till  they  are  accomplished,  though  he  is 
in  the  town  at  the  time  of  the  ordination ;  and  yet  it  is  no  or- 
dination, but  a  species  of  appointment  against  which  he  could 
have  had  no  episcopal  prejudice  whatever !  When  he  learns 
the  facts  he  is  overwhelmed  with  surprise,  and  in  his  .corre- 
spondence exclaims  against  his  "  brother's  consecration  of  a 
bishop,"  and  aDr.  Coke's  Methodist  Episcopal  Church"  at 
Baltimore;  and  Wesley,  in  his  replies,  never  denies  these 
titles,  but  simply  vindicates  his  ordinations,  and  says  that  Coke 
had  "  done  nothing  rashly ;  "  yet  there  was  no  bishop,  no  epis- 
copal office  appointed,  no  distinct  episcopal  Church  established, 
but  Coke  had  fabricated  the  whole !  When  the  preachers  in 
England,  trained  under  episcopacy,  hear  of  Coke's  new  office, 
they  are,  to  the  great  alarm  of  Charles  Wesley,  suddenly 
seized  with  a  desire  to  be  ordained  by  Coke,  though  they  fully 
know  that  he  is  no  bishop,  but  the  same  presbyter  that  he  had 
been  among  them  for  years !  In  six  months  after  the  organ- 
ization of  the  American  Church  Coke  publishes  its  Minutes, 
with  the  title,  "  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  America,"  in 
London,  under  the  eye  of  Wesley,  but  no  remonstrance  is 


604:  APPENDIX. 

heard  from  "Wesley  !  When  Coke  is  condemned  through  the 
press  for  his  proceedings,  he  publicly  replies  that  he  had  done 
"  nothing  without  the  direction  of  Mr.  "Wesley ; "  no  rebuke 
follows  from  Wesley,  but  Coke  goes  on  as  usual,  active  in  his 
Conferences,  and  maintained  in  his  new  position ;  and  yet  his 
American  proceedings  were  an  ambitious  plot,  contrary  to  the 
will  of  Wesley !  The  American  Methodists  had  borne  the 
title  "  Episcopal  Church,"  with  Wesley's  full  approval,  for 
four  years,  when,  on  the  use  of  the  personal  title  of  bishop, 
Wesley  writes  his  letter  to  Asbury ;  and  yet  it  is  not  the  mere 
personal  title  he  condemns,  but  the  office  which,  for  four 
years,  he  had  left  uncondemn ed,  nay,  had  vindicated ! 

And  now,  looking  again  at  this  series  of  arguments,  will  not 
the  American  Methodists  be  acquitted  of  presumption  when 
they  assume  that  they  may  here  make  a  triumphant  stand,  sur- 
rounded by  evidence  accumulated  and  impregnable?  The  ec- 
clesiastical system  under  which  it  has  pleased  God  to  give 
them  and  their  families  spiritual  shelter  and  fellowship  with 
his  saints,  and  whose  efficiency  has  surprised  the  Christian 
world,  is  not,  as  their  opponents  would  represent,  an  imposition 
of  their  preachers,  and  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  Wesley,  but 
was  legitimately  received  from  his  hands  as  the  providential 
founder  of  Methodism. 

If  Wesley's  strong  repugnance  to  the  mere  name  of  bishop 
had  been  expressed  before  its  adoption  by  the  American 
Church,  it  would  probably  not  have  been  adopted.  Still,  the 
American  Church  was  now  a  separate  organization,  and  was 
at  perfect  liberty  to  dissent  from  Wesley  on  a  matter  of  mere 
expediency.  The  Church  thought  it  had  good  reason  to  use 
the  name.  The  American  Methodists  were  mostly  of  English 
origin.  The  people  of  their  country  among  whom  Methodism 
was  most  successful,  were  either  from  England  or  of  immediate 
English  descent,  and  had  been  educated  to  consider  episcopacy 
a  wholesome  and  apostolical  government  of  the  Church.  The 
.  Church  approved  and  had  the  office,  why  not,  then,  have  the 
name  ?  especially  as,  without  the  name,  the  office  itself  would 
be  liable  to  lose,  in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  its  peculiar  char- 
acter, and  thereby  fail  in  that  appeal  to  their  long  established 


APPENDIX.  605 

opinions  which  Methodism  had  a  right,  both  from  principle 
and  expediency,  to  make  ?  The  English  Establishment  having 
been  dissolved  in  this  country,  and  the  Protestant  Episcopa- 
lians not  being  yet  organized  on  an  independent  basis,  and  the 
episcopal  organization  of  the  Methodists  having  preceded  that 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopalians,  the  Methodist  Church  had  a 
clear  right  to  present  itself  to  the  American  public  as  com-  * 
petent  to  aid  in  supplying  the  place  of  the  abolished  Establish- 
ment, having  the  same  essential  principles  without  its  peculiar 
defects. 

May  not  the  circumstance  of  the  assumption  of  an  episcopal 
character,  nominally  as  well  as  really,  by  the  American  Meth- 
odists, be  considered  providential  ?  Episcopacy,  both  in  Amer- 
ica and  England,  has  reached  an  excess  of  presumption  and 
arrogance.  The  moderate  party,  once  declared  by  Bishop 
White,  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  to  include  a  large 
majority  of  American  Episcopalians,*  has  nearly  disappeared. 
"Was  it  not  providential,  under  these  circumstances,  that  a  body 
of  Christians  should  appear,  exceeding  every  other  in  success, 
and  nominally  and  practically  bearing  an  episcopal  character, 
without  any  of  its  presumptuous  pretensions?  Amid  the 
uncharitable  assumptions  of  prelatical  Episcopalians,  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  stands  forth  a  monument  of  the  labo- 
rious and  simple  episcopacy  of  the  early  ages ;  its  success,  as 
wTell  as  its  humility,  contrasting  it  signally  with  its  more  pre- 
tentious but  feebler  sister.  It  has  thus  practically  vindicated 
episcopacy  as  an  expedient  form  of  ecclesiastical  government, 
and  assuredly  it  needs  vindication  in  these  days. 

Such,  then,  is  the  evidence  which  should,  with  all  men  of 
self-respectful  candor,  conclude  decisively  the  question  of 
Wesley's  design  and  agency  in  the  organization  of  American 
Methodism. 

Driven  from  this  ground,  objectors  retreat  to  an  equally  un- 
tenable one,  by  alleging  that  the  episcopal  organization  of  the 
Societies  in  America  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  influence  of 
ambitious  counselors  over  Wesley  in  the  imbecility  of  his  old 
age.  His  biographers  show  that  he  as  yet  betrayed  no  such 
*  Case  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States,  etc.,  p.  25. 


606  APPENDIX. 

imbecility;  but  it  lias  still  more  conclusively  been  demon- 
strated that  the  ecclesiastical  opinions  which  sanction  this 
great  act  were  adopted  in  the  prime  of  his  manhood.  They 
were  the  well-considered  and  fully  demonstrated  convictions 
of  twoscore  years,  before  he  yielded  to  the  unavoidable  neces- 
sity of  giving  them  practical  effect.  Few  facts  in  the  history 
of  Methodism  are  more  interesting  and  instructive  than  the 
gradual  development  of  Wesley's  own  mind  and  character 
under  his  extraordinary  and  accumulating  responsibilities.  No 
possible  ground  of  argument  remains  against  the  Methodist 
episcopate  but  the  prelatical  charge  against  its  legitimacy, 
founded  in  the  traditional  and  exploded  ecclesiasticism  of 
obsolete  ages.  Methodists  are  content,  with  Wesley,  to  pro- 
nounce the  apostolic  succession  "  a  fable  which  no  man  ever 
did,  or  ever  can  prove,"  and  believe  that,  in  this  age,  they 
need  not  anxiously  challenge  any  advantage  which  their 
opponents  can  claim  from  a  pretension  so  incompatible  alike 
with  the  letter  and  the  charity  of  the  Gospel,  as  well  as  with 
the  Christian  enlightenment  of  modern  times.* 

*  Wesley  was  in  good  company  among  Churchmen  in  his  denunciation  of  the 
"fable"  of  the  succession.  Chillingworth  said,  "I  am  fully  persuaded  there  hath 
been  no  such  succession."  Bishop  Stillingfleet  declares  that  "this  succession  is  as 
muddy  as  the  Tiber  itself."  Bishop  Hoadley  asserts:  "It  hath  not  pleased  G-od, 
in  his  providence,  to  keep  up  any  proof  of  the  least  probability,  or  moral  possibility, 
of  a  regular  uninterrupted  succession  ;  but  there  is  a  great  appearance,  and,  hu- 
manly speaking,  a  certainty,  to  the  contrary,  that  the  succession  hath  often  been 
interrupted."  Archbishop  Whately  says,  "There  is  not  a  minister  in  all  Christen- 
dom who  is  able  to  trace  up,  with  approach  to  certainty,  his  spiritual  pedigree." 


STATISTICS   OF  THE   M.  E.  CHURCH. 

MEMBERSHIP  BY  DECADES. 

I  am  indebted  to  Rev.  W.  H.  De  Puy,  of  the  "  Christian 
Advocate,"  New  York,  for  the  following  important  calculations. 
In  the  text  I  have  given  the  membership  of  the  Church  by 
decades,  from  1800,  corresponding  to  the  decades  of  the  cen- 
tury: They  are  here  given  from  its  origin,  1766,  and  present  a 
much  more  striking  result. 


APPENDIX. 


607 


By  examining  the  official  returns  of  the  Conferences  for  the 
whole  century,  and  comparing  them  by  decades,  from  1766, 
we  have  the  following  table  : 


Year. 

Traveling 

Increase 

Members 

Increase 

Preachers. 

of  Preachers. 

of  Members. 

1766 

1776 

'*24 

24 

4,921 

4,921 

1786 

117 

93 

20,689 

15,768 

1796 

293 

176 

56,664 

35,975 

1806 

452 

159 

130,570 

73,906 

1816 

695 

243 

214,235 

83,665 

1826 

1,406 

711 

360,800 

146,565 

1836 

2,928 

1,522 

650,103 

289,303 

1846 

3,582 

654 

644,229* 

Dec.  5,874 

1856 

5,877 

2,295 

800,327 

156,098 

1866 

7,576 

1,699 

1.032,184 

231,857 

0  By  the  withdrawal  and  separation  of  Southern  Conferences  in  1844,  organizing 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  South,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  lost  1,345 
traveling  preachers,  and  495,288  members;  aud  yet  so  rapid  was  her  growth 
during  the  decade,  that  at  its  close  (two  years  after  the  separation)  there  was  a 
net  gain  of  654  preachers,  and  a  lack  of  only  5,874  members  of  making  up  the 
number  lost. 

RETURNS  TO  JANUARY  1,  1867.  % 

I.  Annual  Conferences. — Of  these  there  are  64,  an  in- 
crease of  four  over  the  previous  year. 

IT.  Preachers.— The  number  of  traveling  preachers  is 
7,576,  an  increase  over  the  previous  year  of  401.  Of  these 
6,287  are  effective,  (that  is,  taking  full  work,  to  which  they  are 
assigned  by  the  bishops,)  881  are  superannuated,  and  408  are 
returned  supernumerary.  During  the  year  77  traveling  preach- 
ers located  and  80  died,  and  639  were  admitted  on  trial.  Tiie 
number  of  local  preachers  is  8,602.  an  increase  during  the 
year  of  209.  The  total  ministerial  force,  not  including  the 
bishops,  is  16,178,  being  a  net  increase  of  610. 

III.  Membership.— The  total  membership  reported  is 
1,032,184,  an  increase  during  the  year  of  102,925,  over  eleven 
per  cent.  The  number  of  baptisms  stands  thus  :  adults,  ^A^l 
children,  35,536;  total,  82,955:  being  an  increase  ot  IS ,2b 3 
adults  and  2,645  children,  or  a  total  increase  oi  baptisms  ot 
20,914.  During  the  vear  12,214  members  died.  Ihese  are 
not  included  above.  If  we  add  this  number  to  ^at  showing 
the  increase,  we  find  that  during  the  year  at  least  115, 16  J  per- 
sons united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

IY.  Church  Edifices  and  Parsonages.— The  number  of 
churches  (houses  of  worship)  is  10,462,  being  an  increase  ot 
420.     The  estimated  total  value  is  $29,594,004,  an  increase  of 


608  APPENDIX. 

$2,843,502.  The  number  of  parsonages  is  3,314,  valued  at 
$4,420,958— an  increase  of  171  in  number,  and  of  $24,277  in 
valne.  The  total  value  of  Church  edifices  and  parsonages  is 
$34,014,902,  being  an  increase  of  $2,867,729. 

Y.  Benevolent  Collections. — The  following  are  the 
summaries  of  the  contributions  for  the  principal  benevolent 
causes,  omitting  all  receipts  from  legacies:  for  Conference 
claimants,  (worn-out  preachers,  and  widows  and  orphans  of 
ministers  who  have  died  in  the  work,)  $107,892— an  increase 
of  $14,743 ;  for  Missionary  Societv,  $671,090— an  increase  of 
$69,025 ;  for  Tract  Society,  $23,349— an  increase  of  $1,026 ; 
for  American  Bible  Society,  $107,238 — an  increase  of  $5,495  ; 
for  Sunday-School  Union,  $19,850 — an  increase  of  $782.  The 
total  contributions  for  these  causes  is  $929,221. 

YI.  Centenaey  Eeturns. — Up  to  July  10,  1867,  twenty- 
seven  Conferences  had  reported  to  the  Central  Centenary  Com- 
mittee at  New  York  a  total  of  $4,342,899  17,  From  unofficial 
figures  reported  from  the  remaining  Conferences,  the  secretary 
estimates  the  entire  sum  contributed  as  Centenary  collections 
at  six  millions  of  dollars. 

The  above  returns  complete  the  statistics  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  for  the  Century. 

RETURNS  TO  JANUARY  1,  1868. 

The  official  returns  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  the 
close  of  1867,  the  first  year  of  the  second  Century,  present  the 
following  interesting  and  encouraging  figures :  Annual  Con- 
ferences, 68 — an  increase  during  the  year  of  4;  traveling 
preachers,  7,991 — a  net  increase  of  415  ;  local  preachers,  8,935 
— an  increase  of  333  ;  total  members,  1,144,864 — a  net  increase, 
after  deducting  12,583  deaths,  of  112,680  ;  church  edifices, 
11,138 — an  increase  of  676  ;  parsonages,  3,570 — an  increase 
of  256 ;  value  of  church  edifices,  $35,854,714 — an  increase  of 
$6,260,710 ;  value  of  parsonages,  $5,316,115— an  increase  of 
$895,157 ;  total  value  of  church  edifices  and  parsonages, 
$41,170,829— an  increase  during  the  year  of  $7,155,867. 


the  end. 


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